PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: A NEW ERA
by Celtic-Spaniard
Summary: A normal pirate girl, or something else entirely? Jezebel Katrine Turner comes face to face with her destiny. Will she prevail? or will she fall and fail those that have bled and died for her?
1. A pirate is born

"Eh great." Captain Jack Sparrow sighed as he spied a leak in his boat. Luckily the shore wasn't far off from where he was. And when the boat finally sank he was just a few yards from the beach of yet another Caribbean Island. "Oh even better. the island has no bloody inhabitants whatsoever!"  
  
"Sparrow!" A distant voice hissed, causing him to reel around in frantic search of the owner to the voice.  
  
"Can't be the voices in my head again, I haven't been in the sun long enough!"  
  
"But could it be a mermaids voice?" The whisper asked.  
  
"I haven't talked to a mermaid in ages. wait a moment. I know that voice. Jezebel ya ol' fish! How are you?" He exclaimed as the mermaid queen flopped up onto the beach next to where Captain Sparrow stood.  
  
"Same as always. I have many things to foretell to your ears and imagination."  
  
"Oh? Well then, by all means speak your mind!"  
  
"An era of piracy is coming to its end."  
  
"That's not very good for me now is it?"  
  
"And a new one is on the brink of existence."  
  
"Oh very good then!"  
  
"Your friend Will Turner is expecting a child."  
  
"Oh is he now? So what."  
  
"The child will lead the new era of piracy, she will be as fierce and famous as even you, Captain Jack Sparrow. She will have her mother's grace and a heart of pure gold like her father. And she will be the one to lead you to the glorious end of your legend."  
  
"Wait. she?"  
  
"Yes, the child will be a girl and she will carry the name Jezebel Turner. She will carry on the family line of piracy. You must help shape the pirate that she is destined to become."  
  
"Me? Why me?"  
  
"She will look up to you.not only her own father but you as well. She will not thirst for material treasures as you do, but like her father she will favor adventure and love over everything else."  
  
"And what of Elizabeth?"  
  
"The girl is not to know her mother. not until she comes of age. She must also believe she has lost everything before she can be reunited with her mother. She will be tried many times throughout her life. And when she reaches the age of 19, a storm will tear her away from her father. And she will be rescued by a fisher's vessel, and meet the one that she would willingly give her life for."  
  
"Love." He slurred, "And what of me?"  
  
"You will not be a constant in her life but you will be there when you are needed."  
  
"Oh good."  
  
"At birth she is to receive this trinket." She said as she handed him a jeweled ring. "And when she meets her mother she will find this map of this island in her mothers house. You must plant it there. And the night before the storm her father is to give her this locket, inside is a compass."  
  
"Oh lovely. May I see that map?"  
  
"Half of the map she is to find in her mothers house, the other half she is to find in Isle De La Muerta." She said as the map was torn in half.  
  
"Why did you tear the map?"  
  
"It is part of her destiny to be torn."  
  
"But why is the map torn?"  
  
"She will face great evil and many perils before her time on her own comes. Blackbeard will hunt her down. This is all that I can reveal to you at this time, but when the girl comes to this island. you must bring her to me, to Pearl Falls. Is that understood, Sparrow?"  
  
"Yes'am."  
  
"You must leave now if you are to make it to Port Royal in time."  
  
"But my boat sa." he attempted to say before noticing that his boat had not sunk but was sitting where he had left it. "Never doubt a mermaid, they'll never let you live it down." He mumbled as he swam back to his ship. The mermaid simply smiled and drifted back into the water.  
  
A FEW DAYS LATER IN PORT ROYAL.  
  
"It's a girl!" Will exclaimed happily to the awaiting crowd outside Elizabeth's bedchambers. At the same time he is nearly knocked over by those who wished to see the baby.  
  
"What will you be naming her then?" Governor Swann asked as he looked upon his granddaughter for the first time.  
  
"JEZEBEL!" Called a drunk voice, one that Will and Elizabeth knew all too well. "She is to be called Jezebel Turner. A name that has been blessed by the graces of the mermaids of the Caribbean, for she is a blessed child. And by that blessing she is to be the most precious jewel not just in the Caribbean alone, no, but in the entire world! I have come bearing the gifts of the very mer-people that bless the girl."  
  
"It's not rum is it, Jack?" Elizabeth said with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"No. And it's Captain Jack, thank you very much, Lady Turner." He said contently as Will and Elizabeth rolled their eyes in unison. "Whoa! Is she supposed to look like that?" he asked Will.  
  
"Like what?! Newborns are supposed to look like that!"  
  
"But she doesn't have any hair! She looks like some kind of fish!"  
  
"That will be enough, Sparrow!" Boomed the commodore upon entrance. "What is the name that has been bestowed upon the child?"  
  
"I like the name Jezebel." Elizabeth said weakly to her company.  
  
"Then Jezebel it is." Will announced, just as the baby grabbed her fathers hand.  
  
"Then Jezebel is the name we shall give to the ship that will be given to her. A gift for coming to us here in Port Royal. A ship that will be at her complete disposal."  
  
"A kind gift to be sure. My deepest thanks to you commodore." Elizabeth sighed.  
  
"Aye, but as for now I believe that the mother and child need their rest. So let us burden them no more for the moment." Will said as he shooed most of the people out of the room. Only jack and he remained behind.  
  
"William, ol' boy! Come celebrate your daughter's coming with me. Much has happened since last I saw either of you and in that time much is needed to be said!" Jack called as he and Will left the room.  
  
"Don't do anything crazy, Will." Elizabeth pleaded as her husband flashed her an assuring grin before disappearing out the door.  
  
"So what crazy adventure have you come to tell me about this time, Sparrow?" Will asked as he walked next to the seasoned pirate in the gardens of the governor's house.  
  
"None this time."  
  
"Well that's different. then what do you have to tell me?"  
  
"It's Jezebel. She's destined to lead a new generation, or era or what have you, of piracy. It's in her blood, your blood. She must live the beginning of her life on the sea. She's to be in love with it, call it her home. Be lulled by the gentle rocking of ocean waves."  
  
"I get the picture, Jack, you're making me tired."  
  
"Right, sorry. anyway, she must leave land and soon, very soon. You must take her away from all this. she cannot know luxury, or the rules of these landlubbers. She's not meant to become some proper lady or anything like that."  
  
"Right. Elizabeth and I will take her away from Port Royal tonight."  
  
"No, no, no! Not Elizabeth."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"She's not to know her mother until she's come of age. Then she will run into Elizabeth, it can't be a planned reunion. It must be a chanced meeting."  
  
"I am not about to do that to Elizabeth, tear away a child that has just now come to her. it would destroy her. Jack, I cannot do it, I just. can't. Who has filled your mind with all this nonsense? My daughter. a pirate?! If I had my way she'd never come to know that flaw of my family! She'd never know that her grandfather was a pirate."  
  
"But you're not in control of her mind or her life. And you never, I mean never, go against the foretelling of a mermaid. especially a queen mermaid. I made that mistake once, and my crew went mutinous on me. No, I wouldn't go against the wishes of a mermaid if I were you. Queen Jezebel knows what she speaks of, she sees everything. especially the future, now she sees great potential in your daughter. she sees nothing but good things for her. never a defeat, never a loss. But not if she spends her life on land and with her mother. it's a sacrifice to Elizabeth, I know, but that's just a part of what must be done for her sake."  
  
"Never a loss eh?" Will asked as the ol' Captain grinned, gold teeth sparkling as the rays from the red dying sun hit them.  
  
"He's gone crazy, gone too far this time. Asking to take our daughter away from you. the lunacy! Absolutely ridiculous!" William yelled spiritedly as his still weak wife lay comfortably buried in her blankets.  
  
"Will. I want you to take her away from here." She said quietly, catching Will off guard.  
  
"What?" He whispered as he sat next to her on the bed.  
  
"I don't want this life for her. I don't want her to be tortured by a life of rules and corsets and having to sit there and look pretty and be forced to marry some old rich windbag just for the title and money. I want to her to marry for love, I want her to be unafraid to speak her mind! If she stays here with me she won't be free, and that's what I want for her. freedom. She deserves that much, and if that were all I can ever give to her, then I'd sleep easier having given her freedom to be herself. I couldn't be happier any other way."  
  
"Then it is settled. I will take Jezebel away from Port Royal tonight, if this is what you really want. then I will do everything I can to make it possible. But we'll be together again, someday. I don't know when but I promise you we will be a family someday." He said as he kissed his wife one last time. But when he wasn't looking a single tear ran down Elizabeth's cheek.  
  
MEANWHILE DOWN STAIR'S IN THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSEHOLD.  
  
"Where am I supposed to bloody hide this bloody map!!!" Jack huffed frustrated, but froze when he saw the mounted swords above the mantle in the dinning room.  
  
(A/N: Mounted swords that Elizabeth tried to remove in the movie.those are the ones that finally catch Jack's eye.)  
  
"Right! Well I'll just put this tucked away back there and. WONDERFUL!" He cheered as the last of the map disappeared from sight.  
  
"Jack."  
  
"Wha-o! Boy, don't be sneaking up on this ol' pirate captain! It's just not right.savvy?"  
  
"Right, sorry about that. Eliza-Elizabeth and I have come to a decision. we will follow the wishes of the mermaid. When do we leave?" Though ignorant and mad from sun exposure, Jack could still the heartache that shone in William's eyes.  
  
"I know this will be hard on you, leaving your wife and all.but you'll have little Jezebel, and she's partly Elizabeth so it's not that much of a loss if you think about it." He said quietly.  
  
"Let's just go before I change my mind." Will snapped as he cradled his sleeping daughter in his arms. 


	2. Her beginning

6 YEARS LATER.  
  
"Father, it looks like a storm is brewing up from the south." Jezebel said while dramatically watching the indicated direction of the ever-changing weather.  
  
"And who taught you how to read the weather?" William asked his daughter while leaning on the rails. Wind tugging gently on the two, the water rocking them. Having learnt to walk on the unstable, constantly moving barge Jezebel scampered about gracefully on the ship and seemed to glide when on land.  
  
"Mr. Gibbs did. He tells me all sorts of things, even stories about mum. About how the two of you first met, which I find terribly romantic. But even more romantic is your first adventure with the Captain Jack, to save mummy."  
  
"Don't listen to everything you're told, Jezzy. They're pirates." He said as he turned to face the now obviously approaching storm, eyes not seeing the black clouds, instead he saw the years he had spent with his beloved wife starting as far back as the day they had first met. He would always remember that day, both terribly tragic and blissfully wonderful. Then turning to his daughter he saw Elizabeth in all the grace of her childhood bottled up into this child of the sea.  
  
"But aren't we pirates, too, father. I mean, why else would we live on a pirate ship and never been pestered by any of the shipmates? I know for a fact that your father was Bootstrap Bill Turner, and from what I've heard he was a delightful pirate at that. So I'm guessing that piracy runs in the family. Something else I learned. how to fight like a pirate: never follow the rules. If you have a chance to make a winning strike. take it!" She said as she mock-fought the air.  
  
"You have a fascination with pirates. just like your mother. And you look more and more like her everyday. Same defiant eyes, and nose."  
  
"The crew says I'm a spittin' image of you, father. How come I've never meet mummy? I mean surely normal children know both of their parents, I've just always found that quite strange, but then again who wants to be normal? I think being normal would be a dull life."  
  
"Who wants to be normal indeed. Don't worry Jezzy, you shall meet your mother one-day. it's just, that day still has yet to come. Now be a good little pirate and stay here, I'm going to go help prepare for this storm."  
  
"Yes father." After a few moments of watching the ocean waves lapping at the sides of the ship, Jezebel heard light footfalls approaching her. She turned to Anna Marie just in time to catch the small sword she had tossed to her. "Practicing before a storm? Sounds like a good challenge to me!" She said as she began to battle with her only female shipmate. "Anna, did you ever know my mum?"  
  
"Your foot work is improved. aye, I knew her, but what is this sudden fascination with your mother? Huh, that left foot is still a bit slow. What would you like to know about her?" She asked as she threw out a blow that would have knocked Jezebel's head off had she not ducked and, at the advantage of throwing Anna Marie off balance, put her sword to her throat. "Aye, and the teacher becomes the student. Ye fight like a real pirate now."  
  
"Ah, but I still have much to learn. I wish to know what she was like, was she dainty and proper, loud and rude." The toddler asked as she tossed her sword into it's stand near the entrance to the lower decks.  
  
"She was the most defiant wench I'd e'er met. Bravest in the worst of times, and as daft as they come. And you're well on your way to being just like her, save for she didn't sword fight. least I'd ne'er seen her with a sword. But she knew how to turn heads, very passionate lass as I remember. any more questions?"  
  
"No. Thank you Anna Marie, I think I'll be going below now. That storm looks really bad." With that Anna Marie left the girl to herself on the ship deck, stealing one last look over the railing into the black waves that were becoming gradually more violent. She saw the glimmer of something that appeared to be a jewel; red and glittering, she felt strangely drawn to it. And without a warning a strong wave hit the opposite side of the Black Pearl, which threw the child into the treacherous water.  
  
William and most of the crew were near the other side of the ship when a high-pitched screech sounded in the afternoon sky.  
  
"Jezebel!" William whispered hoarsely as he made a run for where he and his daughter stood for what seemed to have been only moments ago, just in time to see Captain Jack Sparrow dive into the ebony waves. Seconds later Gibbs threw a rope into the water as the Captain returned to view holding onto the girl and screaming about something that sounded like.  
  
"SHARK! SHARK! GET US THE BLOODY HELL OUT OF HERE!" And with one mighty tug the Pirates, both old and young, flew from the water below back onto the deck. William, taking the unconscious child from Jack, sat on the now damp floor and quietly began to rock her back and forth as the crew crowded around the father and daughter. "Give them some space. back, give them room!" Sparrow barked as the bunch of pirates went back to what they had been doing.  
  
"Jezzy! Jezebel, sweetheart. wake-up, come on wake up." He begged while he gently shook the girl until she began to cough up the water she had been choking on. "There ya go, that's a good girl. What happened Jezzy?"  
  
"I dunno, father. One minute I saw something in the water, and the next I'm in the water." She said weakly.  
  
"Well you're alright now. What did you see in the water?" He asked as she opened her hand to reveal a jeweled key.  
  
"I don't know why it was just floating there, but when I fell in I saw it next to me and I didn't know what it was so I just held onto it. then I started to sink and I blacked out." She said as Anna Marie rushed over with a wool blanket to keep the girl from catching a cold.  
  
"Thank you Anna." Will said as Jezebel buried her head into her father's chest, feeling too drained of all energy to thank Anna Marie herself.  
  
"Don't want the young miss to catch her death, too important this lass be." She said as she walked off, Jezebel too tired to hear her friends comment. Before succumbing to sleep the small child placed her new treasure in her pocket, afterwards her father carried her to her little make-shift room in the lower compartments of the Pearl, and there they stayed until the worst of the storm had subsided.  
  
A FEW MONTHS LATER.  
  
"Land ho!" One pirate called pointing to the tiny strip of land that was barely visible. "It's Tortugo!"  
  
"Aye mates. we be home at last!" Another yelled.  
  
"E'er been to Tortugo, Jezebel?" Jack asked as he heard the girl run up next to him.  
  
"If I have, I was too young to remember." She said, her gaze fixed on the piece of land that seemed to be crawling towards her.  
  
"It's not a place for the woman pirate, the only real home for us is the sea. not some whore infested island for drunkards." Anna Marie said as she slyly snuck up on Jezebel.  
  
"Just be careful where you go and what you do in Tortugo. And DON'T take anything that someone offers you. Only take something if you can steal it and get away with it." Jack said without turning away from the familiar view of the island.  
  
"And what if someone challenges me or gets in my way?"  
  
"Then you fight them, you're skilled enough now. Besides that, who in all the world would fight a little girl. even if she were a pirate, that's just not right, picking on children. Honestly!" Jezebel could help but laugh as her friend went on ranting about one random thing after another.  
  
"But what is our reason for going to Tortugo? I mean, what do we need there?"  
  
"Most of the crew is leaving the Pearl, leaving you and me," he said as Jezebel looked at him in disbelief, "So we are here to recruit new mates. 'Tis the last place in all the Caribbean to find a good bunch of crazy pirates that are almost as crazy as myself."  
  
"Who all is staying with us? Father, you and me. who else?" she asked with growing concern etched on her face.  
  
"You almost forgot me, ol' Anna Marie. My place is here on the Pearl, with my favorite pirate along side me for all the adventures that come my way." Expecting his to be the name she mentioned next Jack straightens his jacket and smoothes out his moustache, "The dread pirate Jezebel Turner! Bravest pirate to e'er sail the seas, and most terrible in beauty to look upon." She exclaimed throwing the girl up into the air and catching her. "Besides. someone's got to be there to teach you the ways of being a woman."  
  
"Ugh! Women, I shall ne'er understand any of ye." Sparrow huffed as both girls laughed at his despairing comment.  
  
"Don't worry Jack, you'll always be my favorite pirate and captain." As she went to hug the old pirate, Jezebel could have sworn to anyone that she saw tears forming in the ol' captains eyes.  
  
"Time to go ashore, you've got 4 choices, Jezebel, for when we get to land. One you can stay at the docks and watch the boat, or you could stay with your father, Anna Marie, or myself. Savvy?" he finished as the girl began to nod her head. "Who will it be lil jezzy-poppet?"  
  
"Ummmm. I want to go. by myself. You yourself said I'm a skilled fighter now, so I should be able to take care of myself. And I don't get lost easily; I'll be fine. And I won't get into any trouble because that's your job, Captain Jack." Jezebel said, attempting to sound as sincere as possible, which made the two older pirate's laugh at the fact that trouble was more Jack's expertise.  
  
But when the boat, which carried a number of homesick pirates, and Jezebel reached the shore a sudden lacking of surety confused her. Though the surroundings felt strangely familiar, she felt lost. Wandering down seemingly empty paths of a small forest she figured out why she felt strangely about the place. she wasn't alone. Reaching for her little sword she whirled around to face a boy her age, with sandy brown hair and large horrified brown eyes, who seemed to be as lost as her, but he was more flustered about it than she was.  
  
"Who are you? And why are you following me?" She demanded; the boy seemed to jump a little more with each word. "Speak!"  
  
"J-James West. I was lost and thought, well, you seemed to know where you were going, so I thought maybe."  
  
"Thought what?" She asked, more gently this time. "Are you a native here? Of course not, then you would know your way around. Are you a pirate then?"  
  
"No, I was kidnapped, managed to get free and then I saw you and thought that you had been taken too."  
  
"I'm no captive, I'm a pirate of the Black Pearl. Where were you taken from?" Jezebel asked circling the boy, making sure he was unharmed and unarmed; an act that was obviously making the boy even more uncomfortable.  
  
"P-P-Port Langly. Everything was destroyed, I don't know why they took me, they asked me my name and I thought, because the governor is my father, that they were going to kidnap me. So, I told them I was related to my favorite pirate."  
  
"And who would that be?" She said finally stopping in front of him. Eyes locked, inches from his face.  
  
"I said my name was James Turner. Like the infamous Bootstrap Bill Turner, he's got a grandchild my age, and what luck their name starts with a J, too!"  
  
"Bootstrap died, years ago. Back when my father was not much older than we are now." She said looking in the direction from were they had come. Torchlight's were approaching. "Quick, we must hide! Someone ventures near. there. Duck down there!" She said throwing James to the ground, then crouching along with him.  
  
"He came this way." Said one particularly grimy looking pirate to another.  
  
"Then maybe he still wanders this way, he should have reached the waters by now. But remember we have to bring him back in one piece, else Blackbeard would be very cross with us. C'mon let's go." Said the other as they ventured on.  
  
"Blackbeard? Hmm." Jezebel whispered, "We must get back to the ship. c'mon hurry now, it won't take them long to figure out we aren't down there."  
  
The two children ran quickly back to the docks; Jezebel grinned at the sight of a drunk Sparrow and a very sober and very angry Anna Marie waiting for her return. Stopping abruptly James bumped right into the young pirate.  
  
"You stay here. I'm going to go talk to my captain, hide behind this box, and don't come out until I come back for you. Understand?" Leaving only after she saw him nod his head and crawl behind the large wooden box. Now it was only a matter of talking to Anna Marie, since Sparrow was not at his best, he wasn't in any position to make decisions. This would be easier than she had planned. "Anna Marie, Anna Marie! I have something to tell you!" Jezebel screeched as she ran to her friend.  
  
"There you are, do you have any idea how long we've been waiting for you? Well, I've been waiting, Sparrow's been drinking rum. again." She remarked with a roll of the eyes.  
  
"Anna, I have a secret that I need to share with you. I'm rescuing a boy that was kidnapped by someone by the name of Blackbeard. He told them that his name was Turner, but that's my name. So we need to take him back to Port Langly, but we can't let him know that I'm the Turner that his abductors are looking for. Can you keep this secret for me?" She asked quietly as Anna Marie nodded solemnly.  
  
"Wait, did you say Blackbeard, Lil miss poppet?" Jack asked nearly tripping over air for the second time.  
  
"Aye, that I did."  
  
"Anna, let's get these kids on a boat. NOW!" He said jumping from drunkard to sober pirate captain within seconds.  
  
"Go get him, Jezzy." Anna watched as the girl ran over to a box and returned with a little boy of the same age. "Right, let's go." She murmured, leading the children and captain back to the boat.  
  
"Don't worry boy, you'll be safe here. We're pirates but we're pirates of our word. We'll get you home without a scratch on ye. Poppet! I must have a word with ye." He called turning away from the boy as Jezebel ran over to where he walked.  
  
"I have but one request, Cap'n and that is that our little friend here not learn my name. I know he's not the one searchin' for me but I still believe that if he did know it. it could put him in more danger than he's already in."  
  
"Request granted, poppet." He said with a bow.  
  
"Another question. if it's not too bold. who is this Blackbeard person? You know him, I could tell. I've ne'er seen you sober up so quickly before."  
  
"'Tis nothin of importance."  
  
"Jack."  
  
"You've heard the tales of Barbosa, haven't ye? He's like Barbosa only worse. he's the man that nightmares are made of. You don't want to cross him, he'll kill regardless of age or gender." He said as Jezebel gasped in horror.  
  
"If he's that bad. than what did I. Jack! He's after me, what did I do to make him come after me!"  
  
"That, Poppet, I do not know. But I'll find out. want to know how?"  
  
"How?"  
  
"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. And until your little friend makes his way home. you will be Bell. instead of Jezebel."  
  
After her brief conversation with her captain, the mysterious girl lead little James to the lower levels of the ship, where she showed him where he would find rest until they reached his home.  
  
"And if you find that you need anything. and I mean anything, my quarters are right of there. It's the little door with the two swords engraved on it. And don't worry.we're the good pirates, they're all very nice people. Is there anything I can get you for now?" she asked sincerely when she had finished pointing everything out to the boy.  
  
"Your name. I gave you mine, you saved my life and I don't even know your name. you intrigue me with your air of mystery. And how did a girl like you come to be a pirate?" He asked, a look of confusion consumed his features as the girl next to him began laughing.  
  
"You could say piracy runs in my family, and that 'intriguing air of mystery' you speak of is sort of my protection. I mean, you gotta have something as a pirate that will keep you safe aside from the sword and pistol. As for my name. you may call me Bell, I shall give you no more or less of a name. So do not ask around either, I leave my name to secrecy for your own protection, too."  
  
"My own protection? But I'm not in any more danger. am I?" He said as the barge gently swayed, a move that didn't appear to disturb Jezebel's stance, but knocked James to the ground.  
  
"I feel that until your are safe on the ground of Port Langly. yes, danger is still around the corner. As for what danger that is. I know as much as you do. It is a nameless fear that if thought about for longer than a moment, well, then resting would be out of the question. But enough of that for now, you need your rest. I'll be in my room." While turning to retreat to her quarters, James scrambled to his feet.  
  
"Wait, Bell. One more thing. if I may." When she turned back around he was nearly brought back to the floor by the overwhelming look of calm and patience written on the girl's face, with a gulp he went on. "Are you an angel? I've read about them, the ones that protect pirates and fishermen and the other sea explorers. Are you the angel of the Black Pearl?" Again she found his words humorous, but this time he understood why, he'd figured out her grand secret.  
  
"Maybe. I've ne'er thought of that. But who knows? Maybe I am an angel and I just don't know it yet. Now, get some rest. you'll need It." Turning she began to laugh again.  
  
"Well, I think you are. If my vote means anything, you are." He said as he sat down into the hammock and began to dream. "And if no-one else knows it yet. then you'll be my angel instead."  
  
Behind the door to her room, Jezebel leaned against the wall. She knew that she couldn't get any closer to the boy, it would too dangerous. And so, for the remainder of the voyage to Port Langly, Jezebel had locked herself in her room, not to resurface to even say goodbye.  
  
"Goodbye, dear James, perhaps we will meet again. in better times. Who knows, had I let us. we might even have been friends."  
  
A/N: Thank you to those who have contributed reviews. I am glad to see that people enjoy my stories, and you have reacted very enthusiastically. Which for me was awesome. I felt all tingly inside * warmfuzzies! *  
  
Anyway, sorry it took so long to put this second chapter up. and don't worry I have plenty more to write. A lot more POTC fun is still to come! The time between chapters might be longer than a week because school is getting closer and closer (dammit!) but I will write as much as I can, whenever I can. 


	3. Reunions, confrontation & other funstuff

8 YEARS LATER.  
  
"Land ho!" Cried a pirate of the Black Pearl, though very close to her, he sounded as if he were miles away from Jezebel as she stared off into the never-ending horizon of blue.  
  
"Which port are we too pillage and burn today?" She asked numbly. As of late everything seemed painfully similar to her ever since one of her less secretive ship mates told her the story of how she was a prophet, though in shock the over all idea hadn't quite sunk in yet.  
  
"You might remember this place from a near decade ago, Jezzy-poppet. 'Tis Port Langly, and we're not here to pillage. we need supplies. And perhaps you'll even have a chance reunion with."  
  
"My mother?"  
  
"James West. You remember the boy you rescued the first person you e'er rescued. He won't be the last, you know. Just how much do you know about the supposed 'Prophecy'?" Sparrow asked as she finally turned to face him.  
  
"Just that, for some daft reason, I wasn't to know my mother. That I was not to know the luxuries that I could have been given. I wouldn't have had to steal what I do have. I'm to be a leader, Jack. I can't lead some new era of piracy! I'm not fierce enough, not cruel like a real leader would have to be. And I would rather be out on some adventure than gawking at some jewel. like you do sometimes. Don't deny it I've seen you. I don't thirst for blood or treasure."  
  
"I know you're too much like your mother that way."  
  
"What did you say about." She demanded as she began to look into his eyes; a piercing look that made all who fell victim to it would tell their deepest darkest secrets just so that she would look elsewhere.  
  
"Nothin'." He said looking down at his boots.  
  
"Another part has something to do with Blackbeard, he knows I'm supposed to lead this new generation. and he's intent to stop it, stop me. He's just ne'er been able to find me; I have you to thank for that. But I have to face him someday, or else I'll be hiding forever. but I'm not going to do that. Only cowards hide, and fear, dear Cap'n, is not a characteristic in my personality. I will not hide from or fear my destiny."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I'm a pirate! And what's more I'm a Turner, and we Turners are not prone to cowardice. I mean I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason why father has ne'er told me about my destiny. or what he knows of it. But tell me Cap'n, is there any more to what I do know that I should?" She said cocking an eyebrow as she tilted her head, making the ol' pirate most uncomfortable when he lied.  
  
"If memory serves me correctly. you've got the gist of it. If there's any more to it than I don't remember."  
  
"Damn the rum that erased what you've forgotten." Jezebel sighed as she returned her gaze to the sea, noticing now that they were now in the port. "Do you think he'll still remember me? The boy I rescued when I was a child."  
  
"Jezzy-poppet, I can remember a day when you would have gone for weeks of not speakin' to me 'cause I would label you a 'child'. But why wouldn't he remember you? You weren't there to see it but the boy was completely love- struck with you. He would stand for hours infront of your door waiting for you to emerge, just so he could lay eyes on ye one last time."  
  
"And, pray thee Cap'n, how do you know this?"  
  
"'Cause I asked him, and that's what he said word for word. I don't think that he would soon forget the mysterious pirate girl that stole his heart when she stole him from the grip of danger." He mused as Jezebel began to laugh.  
  
"Oh Cap'n, your drunk rambling is almost poetic. I feel the need to wander the through the Port, I shall return by sundown." She said as she stood, her long hair cascading in brown waves down her back. Her baggy shirt hanging off one shoulder billowed in the direction of the gentle winds, her frayed grey pants hanging slightly below her knees. Sparrow almost doubled over at how lovely the little sea urchin had turned out, an almost exact image of Elizabeth. Save for the dark olive skin that he knew she had inherited from spending 14 years in the sun, her skin made the blond streaks in her hair stand out drastically.  
  
"You're a triple threat, poppet." He said as she turned back to him, her hazel eyes burning with a mysterious thirst.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Dangerous to fight against; more intelligent than most pirates; and you're more beautiful than any jewel or treasure e'er known to a pirates eye. I'd hate to be Blackbeard, he'll fall for sure. mark my words, that man's a goner." Smiling once more she turned to leave.  
  
"The ramblings of a drunkard, bloody poetic." She said while jumping into the boat that would take her to shore.  
  
"Madame. its one pound to tie your boat to the dock. and I'll be needing your name, miss? Miss?" said an old man at the tip of the docks.  
  
"Prices sure have gone up. Here's 4 pounds.forget the name." She said as she laid the money on the dock keep's book.  
  
"Right, payment. 4 Pounds. name. Nime Liz." The dock keep said aloud as he documented the payment in his book.  
  
"Nime Liz?" She asked.  
  
"It's another way of saying 'name-less'." He said looking up at the confused girl.  
  
"Ah, I see. Clever man, clever, clever. Nime Liz. I love it." She said as she waltzed off the dock repeating the name, the dock keeper; amused, watched as the girl wandered into the port and disappeared into the crowds.  
  
"Jimmy boy, where ya goin'? We're not done with you boy!" One bully said as the group of older boys surrounded the younger one.  
  
"Yea, come on now, we won't hurt you. that much." Cried another.  
  
"Leave me alone. I ain't done any harm to the lot of you." He said as he backed into a stone wall. Trapped. But what made him even more terrified, was that he felt that they were all being watched by someone in the shadows.  
  
"Because you're a pirate. or no, you wish you were!" The eldest boy said as he brought his sword down to slash at the boy. But what he wasn't expecting was for another sword to block his target with such a force that he nearly fell backwards.  
  
"And what, may I ask, is so wrong with being a pirate?" The strange girl asked as she emerged from the nearby shadows and turned to face the boys. "I've always found piracy to be a good thing, but you make it sound like it's evil."  
  
"Where did you come from?"  
  
"From my home! The vast and endless sea." She said as she blocked another blow. "You, work on your fighting skills," she said turning away from the gang of bullies, "That left foot is dragging you down. If you actually practiced you might've been able to kill me by now, and yet, here I stand! But tell me, why pick on someone for his beliefs? Especially if he believes he's a pirate, that would make him a very dangerous adversary. so why pick a fight with someone who would kill you and steal whate'er you hold dear?"  
  
"Who are you, girl?"  
  
"Ha-ha. Why does everyone wish to know who I am?! I'm not going to tell you, I mean, what's the fun in that! I prefer to keep an air of mystery. I intrigue people more that way." Out of the corner of her eye she saw another bully emerge from the shadows behind her. "I wouldn't try to sneak up on me if I were you." She said as she drew the dagger that hid silently in her boot to attack the boy behind her. Throwing it she pinned the boy's sleeve to the wall behind him. "I told you it was a bad idea. Now I have to kill you, and I don't much like killing people I don't know. WHO'S FIRST?" She yelled excitedly. Causing all the boys to flee, save for the one still pinned to the wall and the victim of the bullies.  
  
"Please don't kill me!" He begged as she came towards him, fire in her eyes and a terrifying grin on her face.  
  
"Let this be a warning and a lesson to you lad. ne'er go picking on a pirate, because their friends are always just around the corner. Tell your friends the same, else they'll be reunited with my blade." She said as she stood inches from the boy. Frozen with fear he looked into her eyes as a cold sweat formed at his brow. What he didn't see was her hand removing the dagger from the wall with no effort at all. "And you were struggling to remove this. You can go now. run!" she said in a low whisper, and began to laugh heartily when he ran like a headless chicken.  
  
"I've met you before haven't I. Bell. Well, I believe thanks are in order." He said as he extended his hand.  
  
"Consider it an act out of kindness, no thanks needed. I am surprised that you still remember me. It's been a few years since we've seen each other last. You've grown. taller." She said while putting her weapons back in their holders.  
  
"You've grown too. grown more beautiful I mean, I didn't think it possible but you have. Uh, we should probably get a move on, people would've heard that scuffle. they don't take kindly to real pirates." With a short nod they left.  
  
As they walked through an endless maze of alleys he grew continuously uneasy with her piercing gaze constantly fixed on him, and it wasn't until she ran into someone that her line of vision was averted. He only stopped when he realized she wasn't next to him anymore. Turning he saw that there was a tall man holding her by her throat.  
  
"Unhand her!" James yelled as he reached for his sword. But when the man turned his head he became truly terrified.. Blackbeard.  
  
"Just teaching this wench not to run into people. What be your names?" he bellowed with cruelty and malice dripping from each word.  
  
"I-I-I'm J-James West. She's B-Bell."  
  
"Bell what!" He demanded seemingly tightening his grip on her throat.  
  
"Swann." Barely able to croak out her mother's maiden name before she began turning blue.  
  
"Put her down, you're killing her!" he begged before putting his blade to the pirate's throat. "Drop her, now." With that he let go of his grip on the girl, falling to the floor she began to cough, finally able catch her breath.  
  
"Just don't get in my way again. Else I'll add your scalp to my coat." He said as he straightened his jacket.  
  
"You've a coat of scalps. whose scalp's are they? Other pirates you've battled; villager's you've killed." She asked, her voice still raspy from being choked.  
  
"You both seem to be pirates yourselves, so you should know the prophecy. a young pirate by the name of Turner is to lead a new generation of piracy. And her first victory is defeating me, well, I can't be havin' that. so for the past 14 years we've been searchin' the Caribbean for the urchin, killin' all the young female pirates that could potentially be the J. Turner we've been looking for. Tell me poppet. Bell wouldn't happen to be short for Jezebel. would it?" He asked bending down so that he was face to face with the girl, fighting to hide her shock her insides froze when he spat her real name.  
  
"My name is Annabel Swann, do I look 14 to you? Because I'm not, I'm near 20." She said covering her surprise with resentment. "And no-one calls me poppet. not unless they have a death wish. And don't be thinkin' you're the grand exception."  
  
"Who's your Cap'n? What ship are from, Swann?" He said as if he had forgotten that James was also there.  
  
"I'm in the market, as it were. I sail under no Cap'n. I am my own crew; I only came to Port Langly to commandeer a new ship and go off to explore the Bermuda triangle. There's something else about this Turner girl you speak of. when you find her you won't kill her right away will you?" She said as she began to look sharply into the pirate's eyes.  
  
"No. There is a Turner treasure that will be revealed only to her, though she won't care for it, if she were to lead me to the treasure it would be most profitable to me. Then I would kill her, I know for a fact that she sail's under the command of Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl." Realizing that James could expose her true identity at this statement, she began to rack her brains for something to throw him off.  
  
"Ha! But I know for a fact that she does NOT!" noting that she had both the attention of the pirate and the young man she had to find something to back her statement up. "It is widely known that at ten she received her own ship that goes by the name of the Jezebel. It was a gift to her at birth but she was then, at birth, taken away from her home, where that is I don't know, and was from then on raised at sea. And upon her tenth birthday she was taken back to her hometown and given the ship. Now some say that she now sails in the Bermuda Triangle but I think she is headed for England to search for the mother she never knew."  
  
"Ah, but why England." Blackbeard said thinking he had caught the girl in a fib.  
  
"Because her parents are originally from England, right? So in the event that her daughter, her firstborn, being taken from her. her mother ventures back to England in hopes that she can eventually get over the loss of her husband and child. That's what I would do!" Looking up at the two she saw that she had fooled both, or so she thought.  
  
"Young miss, you are a good pirate and I thank you for your information. Though I hope your know that you have helped me in coming closer to killing this young rogue child."  
  
"As long as it's not my scalp you're adding to that coat o' yours, my conscience is clean." She said coolly with a satisfied grin on her face.  
  
"Then I wish you luck on finding your ship, and you on finding whate'er you may be looking for. But I have a date with destiny that I must go after. Farewell, my fellow pirates!" he said with a nod, turned and left the two to their own once more. And when he had finally disappeared from sight James went to the pirate sitting pseudo-calmly on the ground.  
  
"Why are you letting him get away? You could've taken him! Then you would have ne'er had to worry about him catching up to you eventually. You are Jezebel Turner aren't you? Why didn't you tell me the day we met!"  
  
"Because it would have put you in even more danger! I didn't kill him now because it is not the time for that battle. I'm not strong enough, yet. I'm not fierce enough, I must be tough and fierce before I can face him as myself. Now do you understand why I am so mysterious? It's because I have no other choice; it's so easy to fail. I have been tried many times, I could have failed everything had I given in and made friends with every single person I ever met. Ever since I was first taken aboard the Pearl, whene'er it went anywhere my father and I would stay behind on the ship, so no one would e'er know that we sailed under Sparrow's command. Everything is an issue of safety for myself or my crew since my infancy. that's why I didn't say goodbye when we brought you back to Port Langly. And now that Blackbeard knows what he thinks he knows. I have to leave these shores, and can ne'er come back. This is the last time I shall e'er see you again."  
  
"Wait. don't leave not yet. Please stay and explain something's to me." He begged as he grabbed her arm, smothering any attempt for her to leave. Turning to face him, he was taken aback by the sadness that consumed her eyes.  
  
"What do you wish to know?" She said, nearly crumbling him with how vulnerable this brave and deadly pirate looked at the moment.  
  
"Tell me about your family, and just where is your hometown?"  
  
"Port Royal, Governor Swann is my grandfather. There is some truth to what I told Blackbeard. at birth I was given a ship of my own, and it was named after me. A gift from the Commodore, a family friend at a guess. That's really all I know about my hometown and family. on my mother's side. My father was a blacksmith, before he became a pirate that is."  
  
"One last question. did I leave as much an impression on you as you did for me?" Her scoff cut down the tension of the moment.  
  
"I remember you were a perfect gentleman, and you thought I was an angel. I still think about that. I wasn't in love with you from the moment we met, in fact if I remember correctly; I almost killed you when I first saw you. But I'm glad I didn't, did you always want to be a pirate or is that a recent development?"  
  
"Only since I first found out you were a pirate, I thought that if I became one, too, that . I dunno, I thought you would somehow come back to me."  
  
"I'm here now aren't I? The sun is setting. I must go. Here, keep this trinket for me, and remember the time, no matter how short, that we spent together." She said as she handed him the chain that she had worn around her neck since she was thrown from the Pearl.  
  
"Your jeweled key? I remember this from when we were children. I cannot accept this." He protested, as if she didn't hear him she pressed it into his hand.  
  
"It has given me luck since I first received it, though I went through something unlucky to get it."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I was thrown from my ship and nearly drowned because I saw it floating, a large wave hit the other side of the ship and. well, let's just say that I'd rather sail than fly. It has brought me luck, and who knows, maybe it will do the same for you; maybe it will bring us back together someday. But I must leave you now, I don't know if we'll see each other again. but if we don't, then you have something to remember me by." Trying to walk back out to the docks she was stopped when James grabbed hold of her arm once more. Turning around, she was surprised when he pulled her in for a kiss.  
  
"I would never have forgive myself if I hadn't done that. But know that you'll always have a home here." He said, pulling away.  
  
"My home is the sea, but even that reaches Port Langly. Goodbye James." And with that she walked out of his life a second time, and left Port Langly behind never to return to its shores again. 


	4. The dreaded day it all began

"Poppet! Poppet... where are ye, Jezzy-poppet!" Jack Sparrow boomed as he shot up from his hammock in a frenzied panic. Running from one tip of the Pearl to the other, only to stop when he heard a soft laugh coming from the water on the starboard side of the ship. "Ha, I'm down here Cap'n... just patching up this hole in this bloody boat. A bird ran into the Pearl last night and its beak left a nasty little hole." She said with an amused grin on her face. "But the damned thing doesn't seem to want to be fixed!" She exclaimed while clinging to the side of the ship.   
  
"Come up here so that I might get a good look at ye, we'll fix that hole later." He called, seemingly calmer than he had been when he woke up. But when the girl climbed over the railing, a look of bewilderment crept back into the old pirate's eyes.   
  
"You alright, Cap'n?" She asked, as the frenzied panic returned.   
  
"You can't be Jezebel! Jezzy's a little girl, small... compact," As he went on Jezebel grew even more entertained by his ramblings. "... But you on the other hand, you're a lovely pirate woman! Tall and elegantly dangerous..."   
  
"Sparrow, I've always been dangerous." She said as she laughed at her captain.   
  
"I know but... girl! How old are you?" he demanded as the other pirates around them stopped to watch the spectacle.   
  
"19 as of tomorrow. Cap'n, what is this all about?" She said wearily.   
  
"Wha? Can't this ol' pirate gawk at how the Baby of the Black Pearl has matured into a most lovely young woman! It seems like only yesterday you took your first steps right o'er there by the bow o' this ship! And now look at you, you've come of age before me very own eye's!" He said, only to bite his tongue after noting that she'd come of age, and by that time all the amused faces of the surrounding pirates had turned grim. For they knew what her coming of age meant, they would soon be torn away from the girl that had made them smile every day for the past 19 years.   
  
"Well, you can't keep me a child forever, I had to grow up at some point. But why has everyone gone from happy to sad in realization of my age? It doesn't have anything to do with those stories about me being a great leader of pirates... does it? Oh god, it starts here, now... doesn't it?" She said quietly, the frenzied panic spreading to her own eyes.   
  
"Of course not, Poppet. It starts tomorrow... I mean... no."   
  
"Cap'n... I'm old enough for the truth, and I believe it's time you tell it to me. Now, what is to happen now?" She said as she focused her soul- piercing gaze on the pirate's face, a stray hair blowing gently about her face. Eyes wide, as if they were awaiting the worst news.   
  
"The battle for the new era is near; that you've always known. The existence of piracy as we know it depends on your victory o'er Blackbeard... there's more riding on that battle than you will e'er know. And us, we won't be there to back ye up, as much as we'd like to be... we cannot be there. It won't be long, until you are taken from the Pearl. But worry not, hope might seem lost... but it will find its way back to ye. Nothing can stay lost for long, at least not for you, poppet. Now, enough talk of things that still have yet to be done. Tortugo isn't but a two-day journey from where we are now. I have to go... alone." He said as he began to untie a spare boat.   
  
"Why? Why must you go alone... and why now?" She questioned while closely following her captain around as he gathered his affects. Dodging rope and sail.   
  
"Because," he said as he stopped abruptly and whirled around. "I'm not supposed to be around on your 19th birthday... I don't know why it has to be this way but I have no say in what is to come of you or me... I am simply a game piece in this twisted game of life. Savvy?"   
  
"You mean that you're not destined to be here when I come of age... when I'm torn from everything I've ever known. That's what you mean, that's savvy." Frustrated with what was going on around her, she stomped off back to her little quarters.   
  
LATER THAT DAY IN JEZEBEL'S QUARTERS...   
  
Jezebel was jarred from her daydreams by a gentle rapping at her door; sitting up she shook her head to shake the weariness from her mind. A minute later the rapping continued. Then a soft whisper followed.   
  
"Jezebel? May I come in?" Father. He was the only one that would actually ask to enter; the rest either entered without warning, knocked while entering or asked if she was decent right before entering.   
  
"Of course, Father. You're always welcome to come in, you know that." She said as she jumped up to open the little door.   
  
"I... heard about what happened earlier... before Sparrow left for Tortugo. I'm very sorry I hadn't told you before, but tomorrow's your birthday and I wanted to give you your present tonight. It was given to me when you were born, I've been hanging onto it all this time." He said as he handed her the locket.   
  
"Oh my, it's very beautiful, father. And there's a compass inside!" She mused as she opened the trinket.   
  
"So you'll never be lost, you'll always know exactly where you are and how to get back home. And the symbol on the front is the emblem on the flag of your ship."   
  
"The Jezebel."   
  
"Yes. For when you have to prove that the ship is, in fact, yours. Every pirate should have a working compass, Sparrow doesn't, but he isn't just any pirate... he's a crazy one." He explained as his daughter laughed.   
  
"Oh father, I love it. Thank you." She said as she hugged William. When she looked at his face once more, instead of happiness she saw sorrow and regret, deeper than the likes that she'd ever felt.   
  
"I am truly sorry that you are encumbered by the ideas that you have been feed since day one. If I could take it all back and give you a life with your mother, I would do it. If I had any say in your future I would have piracy removed from it." He said with tears in his eyes, and like all little girls hate seeing their father cry it made Jezebel equally sad.   
  
"Though it might have been nice to know mum... I wouldn't have it any other way, no matter how much honesty I would have been saturated in... I'd choose this life over anything else that I could ever have been offered. This is my life and there's no taking anything back. I know what I have to do, and it's not just for me... nothing has ever been just for me, it's for my family; for piracy. I won't fail any of them, I can't." She murmured while clutching the locket in her hand so hard that the edges of the square locket cut into her hand and her blood mingled with the golden chain.   
  
"I know you won't, never a loss... never a defeat. That's what she told Jack." Whispered William as he tightened his embrace on his daughter. "But that doesn't mean she'll come out unharmed."   
  
"Father, what are you talking about? Who told Jack what? And who won't come out unharmed?" She asked, furrowing her brows; a look that always brought a smile to William's face.   
  
"A mermaid queen...named Jezebel, told Jack about how you would be a legendary pirate. She said that you would be a fierce pirate, fighting many battles. And there would never be a defeat... never a loss. But nowhere did she ever say that you would come out unharmed... I would've been able to sleep easier these 19 years had she just said that too... even if it were just to calm my mind." He said looking on, almost as if he were in a daze.   
  
"Then let me say it... as a promise to you. I will come back to you after every battle I may fight completely untouched. No cuts, bruises, or other types of wounds." She said with a grin. Looking up at her father, though she'd always thought he looked like he were still in the prime of his youth, he seemed to look even younger as a nameless stress was lifted from him. But when he smiled at her comment, she saw in all his valor, why her mother had fallen in love with him.   
  
"It's getting late, you'll need to get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for you. Goodnight." He said as he kissed her forehead like he had done every night since she'd first came to the Black Pearl.   
  
EVEN LATER THAT NIGHT...   
  
A quick crack of thunder woke Jezebel up from a light slumber; something weighed down on her mind that wouldn't let her sleep peacefully. Exiting her tiny room she crept quietly to the deck, the first thing she saw was Anna Marie asleep at the wheel. Laughing to herself she went on, stopping when she reached the bird hole she'd tried fixing that morning. But at the moment it was being blocked from view by a rather ragged looking pirate, one that Jezebel knew wasn't of the Pearl. Throwing her shoulders back she called fearlessly to the man.   
  
"What are you doing up so late? Give me your name and what ship you come from." Her fearlessness shattered when he began to laugh with a horrible scratchy cackle. As he turned she was frozen by fear when she saw that he was not a man, but instead a skeleton with rotting flesh hanging from his bones. The monkey that sat on his shoulder looked that same as the skeleton he was perched on.   
  
"Why don't you give me your name, missy. And I shall then give ye mine. And as for the ship I came from, I come from the caves of Isle De La Muerta. This was once my ship." He said with a cruel grin.   
  
"Jezebel Turner," She said as she lifted a defiant chin, "And this ship has ALWAYS belonged to the Cap'n Jack Sparrow." Another cackle rang out in the dead of the night.   
  
"Turner, eh? I bet you'd be scared to meet your grandfather's murderer," He noted happily that she flinched when he said murderer. "And I see that you are. Tread carefully, missy. Or I'll be comin' back to finish off ol' Bootstrap's boy... like I tried to years ago."   
  
"What stopped ye, I wonder. Perhaps he lifted the curse you were under at HIS opportune moment, which from what I've heard was in time enough for you to die. But with all that in consideration... how is it that you've come back? You were dead and yet you stand before me." She said with a wild terror reflecting in her eyes.   
  
"Ye have Jack, here, to thank for that. When everyone else had gone and left he placed one of Cortez's coins in me hand... and that is why, before you I stand." He said with another cruel grin and a courtesy.   
  
"Poetic one you are," She grumbled sarcastically. "So, why are you here, and why at night? You have no crew to try to fight us with. What do you want from the Pearl?"   
  
"Ah, so young and full of... an endless amount of questions. Ye have a lot to learn, Miss Turner, and asking questions is something you put in moderation. I am here to tell to you that Blackbeard is waiting for the Pearl to enter Port Royal, I'd hate to spoil the surprise... wait, I don't hate spoiling surprises. Anyway, for your 19th birthday the crew is planning to make a day trip to Port Royal so that you can meet your mum... blah, blah... it's too sentimental for a heartless folk like me. So he's there waiting to blow this fine ship out of the water, I can't let that happen, eventually I'm going to win back the Pearl and I don't want to receive it in pieces!" He bellowed as Jezebel flinched at his volume, at the same time wondered why no-one was rushing up to see what the racket was about, or why Anna Marie was still asleep.   
  
"Lovely shouting voice, Mr. Bones..."   
  
"It's Barbosa!" He said as he struck her across the face. "Another reason I'm here is to give ye this," He said as he pulled out a pistol and pointing it at the girl, "Compliments of Blackbeard himself." He said as he pulled the trigger, her eyes widened as the bullet left the gun. She hit the ground with a loud thud and as her head hit the ground her eyes flew open and she shot up in her cot.   
  
"Oh... thank god, it was all just a dream!" She whispered as she threw back the sheet and ran up to the deck to find Anna Marie asleep at the wheel... and someone standing by the bird hole. "That's most interesting." Though after another step or to she discovered that the person was her father. Sneaking up on him she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his back.   
  
"Jezebel, what are you doing up so late?" He said after jumping slightly.   
  
"Nightmare left me restless... a nightmare about Barbosa, I dreamt that he was on the Pearl... right where you stand now. He told me that Blackbeard was waiting for us in Port Royal tomorrow. That he plans on blowing up the Pearl, and Barbosa didn't like the idea of him destroying his ship, even though this ship isn't his, he thinks he's getting it back. Then he shot me, and that's when I woke up." She said as he froze and turned to face his daughter.   
  
"Barbosa is dead, Jezebel." He said as he took her by the shoulders; she began to shake her head with tear filled eyes. "Do you hear me, Barbosa is dead! He's been dead for longer than you've been alive!"   
  
"No!" She cried, waking Anna Marie on the other side of the deck. "Barbosa's monkey restarted the curse on him after you, mum and Jack left the caves! He's alive; he's been alive the whole time! And he's after us; same as Blackbeard... even if I defeat him I'll still have to go up against Barbosa. Oh father, I don't believe I could survive them both... I'm not ready, it's just too much." She said right before fainting from the frustration.   
  
Upon waking the next morning Jezebel found herself back in her small room tucked away in her cot. Lying next to her was a shiny new sword with the letters J. T. engraved into it, next to that was a pistol... Barbosa's pistol. Getting out of bed she ran up to the deck, pistol in hand. Fear burning in her eyes.   
  
"Morning Jezebel. I see ye found the crews gift to ye, 'tis a fine sword that. Forged by your father, he's got talent with makin' weapons; prime example to that is you. What else do ye got there?" She said when her gaze landed on the pistol in her hand.   
  
"Barbosa's pistol, I don't know how it got into my room. But I had a nightmare last night about it... a-a-and Barbosa." She said holding the pistol out to Anna Marie.   
  
"Aye, that's his pistol. But how it even got onto the Pearl, I don't know. No-one brought it back with them when he died, and that was years ago in the Isle De La Muerta... buried deep into it's caves. He died a few years before you were born, so I don't know how you would know anything about this pistol or it's owner." She said examining the weapon. Jezebel stared wide-eyed at her friend.   
  
"He's haunted my dreams many a time before. E'er since I was very young, he was the nameless fear that would wander my subconscious. I used to feel like someone would be following me, I would see him out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned around I would be alone once more. But last night was the first time I'd ever really talked to him, he said that it would be a deathly mistake to venture into Port Royal today..." she whispered hoarsely.   
  
"Who was the loudmouth that told her about going to Port Royal?!" She shouted to the crew.   
  
"Barbosa did, it wasn't any of them. He told me that Blackbeard was waiting for the Pearl to enter the Port... then he's going to blow it out of the water. Something tells me that Barbosa isn't quite dead... and he won't go quietly, not without a fight, and not without taking a few pirates down with him. He wants to wipe out the Turner bloodline completely, he said he had only just begun with my grandfather and that he's back to finish the job." She said as her father, walking towards the two women, overheard the last part.   
  
"Who's going to finish what job?" he asked stopping between the two.   
  
"So what should we do then?" Anna Marie asked the girl, completely ignoring Will.   
  
"We avoid Port Royal at all costs; and not go anywhere near Tortugo, we can't risk a confrontation with any other pirates. Our only option is to stay right where we are for now, and perhaps tomorrow we can take a boat in to Port Royal to make sure it's even safe, yet. I will not risk the lives of others for a destiny that is mine alone." Jezebel insisted, a look of determination clearing the doubt and fear from her eyes. Anna Marie looked at the young pirate with overwhelming pride in her gaze.   
  
"Spoken like a true leader of our kind. Aye, Aye Jezzy! Your demands are our command." She said with a sly twisted little grin.   
  
"Jezebel... explain to me what is going on." Her father demanded. The girl simply handed him the pistol and walked to the railings of the barge. "He is alive then... but he won't be for very much longer."   
  
THAT EVENING....   
  
The sun was golden and the sea was glittering like dying embers from the fire, and Jezebel stared at the waves sleepily as Anna Marie hummed softly at the helm. A crack of thunder broke the serene moment that the crew of the Pearl had been enjoying. A bolt of lightning shook Jezebel from her daze, standing up and looking at the opposite horizon she was disappointed to see some rather nasty looking storm clouds crawling towards the ship.   
  
"Storm is brewing from the east, looks like a possible hurricane. Let's hope it doesn't hit us too hard." Anna Marie said expressionlessly after barely taking a glance at the clouds.   
  
"Shouldn't get here till the dead of night. We'd better prepare for the worst. You know I've heard and said that many a time but it's never seemed so final, like the worst really is riding those clouds. Like doom has finally come to claim us all." Jezebel murmured numbly, looking into the storm as if she had every intention of staring it down until it was merely a white thread in the sky.   
  
But William knew the truth; this would be the storm that would tear his child from him as her destiny ripped her away from her mother the day she was born. He concentrated on his daughter, every detail of her. The way the orange dying sun turned her streaked brown hair to gold, and how it swayed gently with the sea breeze; how her steady and defiant gaze was just like her mother's; how her soft golden skin gleamed in the light. He stared sadly and tried desperately to hold onto this moment for all time. He didn't know, however, if he would ever be reunited with his Jezebel, his gem; his only treasure that was left to him.   
  
"Jezebel, come here and entertain an old man." He beckoned to his daughter.   
  
"Show me an old man, and I shall entertain him. But you, my father, are not old; and yet I shall entertain you with my presence anyway." She exclaimed as she walked over to her father and sat with him on the stairs that led to the helm. Turning to face the man she had called father all her 19 years, she was taken aback when she saw this relatively young man age dramatically before her eyes. "You are troubled, please... unburden yourself and tell me your troubles."   
  
"I fear tonight is the end to much of what we both once knew, and the beginning of something more; something beyond anything we ever thought possible. It is both a sad time and one in which we should be glad as well. A torturous euphoria you might say." He said absentmindedly babbling about what he knew to be true, his daughter compassionately nodding her head all the while a smile played on her lips.   
  
"You are tired, father, the crew and I can prepare well enough on our own. Why don't you go and get some rest, you look as if you could use it. Go on, I'll be down myself soon." She said as she helped her father up and over to the entrance to the lower levels. "Good night father, I'll see you in the morning."   
  
"Perhaps, or perhaps the sea will sweep me away from what matters most in my life... and I don't mean piracy or the Pearl." He whispered softly, too softly for Jezebel to hear. After taking one last look at her father walking below she felt strangely depressed, but couldn't understand why. After a seemingly routine storm preparation most of the crew went down below to either rest or eat, all but Jezebel; for some reason she felt she couldn't leave the top deck. So instead she remained above, watching the storm closely; it would be upon them soon... maybe too soon.   
  
Without a warning a raging wave struck the ship nearly turning it on its side. Holding on for dear life, Jezebel slowly made her way over to the door to the lower levels. But before she could reach it lightning struck the sails and a wooden beam came crashing down on the little door, trapping everyone beneath it. Frantically she tried with all her might and strength to push the beam aside, but much to her dismay the beam wouldn't budge. Panic and fear quickly claimed her entire being.   
  
"Father! Someone, anyone! I can't get this thing off! I can't it's too big, it's just too big!" She cried hysterically, but instead of hearing desperate screams for help, she heard nothing. Suddenly her confusion cleared, this is how she sets off to be on her own. All she ever knew would be destroyed by the storm, a strange peace filled her mind; she was no longer afraid. Slowly a single hand emerged from one of the holes in the door she recognized it instantly: William. "Father, why didn't you tell me it was to come to this?" She asked taking her father's hand.   
  
"You had to figure it out for yourself, it's been that way for everything. I'm sorry I can't join you on your adventures, or when you finally meet your mother. I wish—I wished I could've seen your faces when you realize who the person you're staring at is. Tell her that I'll always love her." He said sadly.   
  
"No, no father, don't say that. You'll get to tell her yourself, you'll get free somehow. We'll be together again, you'll see. Don't let go, don't let go of me, father. Please don't let go..." She begged as the tears poured down her face, falling in sync with the rain. Her heart shattered as her father's hand slipped out of her grip. "No, come back, please!" She begged once more before a second raging wave bashed into the ship throwing her back and she landed awkwardly on the stairs to the helm, knocking her unconscious. The last wave tore into the ship and threw Jezebel into the ebony waves. 


	5. Of redemption and reunions

"Man overboard!" An aged fisherman cried as he spied a body floating on a broken beam. But before any of the other fishers could even get a look at what it was, the youngest member of the boat had dived into the crashing sapphire waves. The morning sun shining, it's heat beating down on the water, arousing the scent of salt into the air. The boy came back up drenched and breathing deeply, in one arm he held the rope that he used to haul himself back aboard with, in the other he held a tight grip on the slender form. Crashing onto the deck he cradled the body into his arms and smoothed the long tangled mess of hair away from the face, only to reveal the face of a beautiful young girl. "What is it?" One fisherman asked.   
  
"The catch of the day, he's found himself a girl." Another said.   
  
"That's my boy!" Piped another. And as he pushed back the remaining strands from her face he felt an affinity with the girl though he wasn't sure that he'd ever met any one so beautiful in all his19 years. A glint of reflected sun distracted him from her face, looking down he found a gold locket with rubies that circled the edges of the locket and a bazaar design of rubies interweaving with the chain that was twisted like vines up to the middle of each side.   
  
"What have you got here?" He said picking up the locket when he had noticed that all the other fishermen had gone back to mending their nets. "This trinket here is almost as beautiful as you... almost." Staring at the emblem on the front of the locket he remembered seeing the emblem else where, but where he had previously seen it he couldn't remember. Suddenly her hand shot up and grabbed the jewel.   
  
"Who are you?! What am I doing here? Ah." She said before feeling a pain reverberate in her head, standing up and stepping away from her rescuer she stumbled.   
  
"Don't move about so quickly. You've suffered something nasty, I suspect. Found ya floating on a piece of wood. You're the guest aboard the Bertha, only the greatest fisher's ship in all the Caribbean. I'm... Landon West, may I be so bold as to ask who you are?" He said as he stood.   
  
"West did you say? That name... it sounds familiar. You wouldn't happen to be related to a James West?" She asked still confused about the events from the night before. But she noticed that the carefree and positive gleam in his eyes disappeared at the mention of James West.   
  
"He's dead." He mumbled quickly.   
  
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I met him a few times. By chance, you could say, a second time not so long ago... a few years back I believe. What happened to him?"   
  
"Heartbreak, he found the girl of his dreams and she exiled herself from Port Langly. She was a pirate, saved his life... twice if you can imagine." Her heart sank; she had killed him, if not by blade or bullet not even by cruel words. She killed him because he loved her and she didn't even see it. "She gave him this here key, which he passed to me before he finally gave in to the heartache."   
  
"I killed them, all of them. All my fault..." She whispered to herself.   
  
"What's that you're saying? I didn't quite hear you." He said as her head shot up.   
  
"Nothing, it's nothing. Tell me, what is the your next destination?" She asked eagerly. "I don't wish to burden you with my company for any longer than is needed."   
  
"Port Royal is where we sell our catch. It's the only place we deliver to." He said as her eyes widened with joy.   
  
"Port Royal!" She exclaimed, joy over taking her, she hugged the boy. "I'm going home! I'm finally going home, I have some family in Port Royal. Oh, it's finally happening!"   
  
"With your permission, miss. May I request to accompany you, or rather escort you home? Just to make sure that you arrive safely. We should be docking within the hour. This seems to be your first time in the Port Royal, am I correct?" He asked shyly.   
  
"Truly the request of a gentleman. 'Tis true this is my first time in Port Royal, I'm very excited. I've never had an escort for anything before."   
  
"I don't believe I caught your name?"   
  
"Oh... it's, uh, Rowena." She said thinking she had heard some of the older shipmates listening in.   
  
"Just Rowena? There's nothin more to that name?" He asked curiously.   
  
"Not all pirates need or know a last name."   
  
"So you're a pirate then. You wouldn't have ever happened to meet Jezebel Turner?" Asked the young hopeful.   
  
"Ah, the supposed leader of the new era of piracy... A very long time ago." She said as she turned around only to get her first view of Port Royal. She stood dumbstruck, after having her breath ripped from her lungs she collapsed into the boy's arms.   
  
"Careful now, miss. Can't have you fainting left and right on your way home." He said as he caught her in his strong tanned arms.   
  
"If it's alright, I'd like to stop by a friends house first." She asked.   
  
"As you wish, m'lady." He said as she pushed herself away from him.   
  
"I'm no lady, please call me Rowena." She grumbled as she walked off towards the makeshift ramp that the other members of the crew exited from. The boy not far behind, she'd met him before and she knew it, something told her that it was James, but another part of her was reminded that he was dead. "Excuse me, Mr. Dock keeper, you wouldn't happen to know where an Elizabeth S—Turner might reside?"   
  
"Why, in the same mansion she's always resided in of course. It's the largest one here." He said as he pointed to the large building that peeked over the whole scene of the town.   
  
"Thank you sir." She said as she handed him a shilling that she had stolen from his own pocket when he wasn't looking.   
  
"So you've met Jezebel once... a very long time ago, and yet you come here to see her mother?" He asked as he walked down the cobble stone street like he had so many times before, watching the girl beside him curiously, watching as she stared wide eyed at every little thing.   
  
"That's the Smithy that her father worked in before he became a pirate... isn't it?" She asked pointing to the little store that was tucked snuggly between other buildings. "I have some rather grave news to report to her, the Black Pearl was recently destroyed in a storm, all were killed who were on board. William Turner was one of them." She said with deep sorrow etched in her eyes.   
  
"Then Jezebel was also among them? I cannot believe this, she wasn't supposed to die," He said stopping next at wall that he leaned on. "She said we'd meet again; She promised, she gave this to me as she told me that we would be together again." But Jezebel Cough, I mean Rowena didn't hear him, she was still marveling at the small door to the blacksmith shop, tears forming at her eyes.   
  
"We cannot stay here any longer," She said as she turned back to the boy. "I fear we are being followed."   
  
So on they went, heartache tearing at both of their hearts; but hope remained in only one of them. At last they reached the majestic mansion that stood tall on the hillside. Laying her hand on the smooth surface of the gates she pushed them forward, only to have her hand smacked down by the blunt of a sword.   
  
"What business do you have with the governor and his daughter?" Said the woman, though she was dressed like an old widow her face looked like that of a young woman in the prime of her youth.   
  
"I wish to speak with the lady Turner, on the matters of her husband and daughter."   
  
"And him?" She asked pointing her sword at the young man.   
  
"My escort and rescuer. Perfectly harmless one he is, I hold no bitterness for any but Blackbeard and Barbosa." She remarked coolly. The lady lowered her sword and motioned for them to follow her. Jezebel marveled at the grounds, all this could've been hers. "If it's not too bold, may I ask who you are?"   
  
"I..." She said as she turned to face the two again, "am Elizabeth Turner." Jezebel's face flushed as she gasped, hardly able to conceal her reaction. "Are you alright child."   
  
"Yes," She whispered, almost inaudibly, looking about her suspiciously. "Let's carry on this conversation inside, I fear that there are some unwelcome ears listening in."   
  
"Now, what is it that I can help you with. Please forgive my outburst at the gates. One can never be too careful these days." She said as she sat up straight on the edge of her seat.   
  
"I bring ill news from the Pearl... concerning your family. There was a storm, a bad one, everyone aboard was killed, save for Jezebel. But when the realization that she was alone finally hit her... death came to her as well. I am terribly sorry to be the one to tell you all this." The girl said sadly, biting her lip as she finished.   
  
"And how is it that you have discovered these things to be true?" She said in a burst of desperation.   
  
"Because I died too that night. Because I died when I realized my crew and father were trapped below and I wasn't, that's how I know mother." She cried, unable to conceal her true identity any longer. Her words seemed to physically slap the woman across the face, and she, too, began to cry. It wasn't until then that James finally realized his pirate love was the girl he had rescued.   
  
"Jezebel... so it is you. Why did you say your name was Rowena?" The boy asked with both suspicion and overwhelming joy in his features.   
  
"One can never be too careful these days. I didn't know if I could trust you, or your crew. But in the streets, when I told you about the shipwreck I knew that it was you James. I could see it in your eyes, the heartbreak." She said, looking at him, when suddenly something behind him caught her eye. I speck of white sticking out from the bottom of the mounted swords above the mantle.   
  
"I thought you were already dead. At the beginning I was so sure that you would both return, but then, as time wore on I began to loose hope. At some point in time I just gave up and took up the life of a widow. You and your father even have gravestones in the cemetery." Elizabeth said, eyes welling up with tears that had gone unshed over the years. Taking her mother's hands Jezebel tried to comfort her.   
  
"In a way I am dead. Father told me that I would never know defeat or loss, I lost him; and there is no greater defeat than that. As far as I can see it, this prophecy that ripped me away from you has already failed. Let Blackbeard rule the seas of this cursed Spanish Main, let him take and pillage and plunder. I wash my hands of it, all of it. In loosing father, I lost all desires to be with the sea. Let Barbosa take back whatever remains of the Pearl." She said as James stared at his love with shock. The girl that once had a fire in her eyes now only had the smoking ebb of ashes. Her passion had been smoldered by her grief; she was drowned in her losses.   
  
"What about Barbosa? He died before you were born. So how could you say anything about him as if he were still alive?" Elizabeth asked dazed and confused.   
  
"Because he's not dead. The monkey brought him back, and now he's after the Turner bloodline. He said he had only begun with Bootstrap, and that he would get me someday... once he reclaims the Pearl; but even that lies at the bottom of Davey Jones Locker." Jezebel said in one last huff of exhaustion, at this point James couldn't take any more.   
  
"That can't be the same Jezebel Turner I know. The one that I fell in love with when I was younger, she would never have given up on anything. Nor would she ever sulk over anyone's death, she would use the death of a loved one as incentive to kill any who stood in her way... you can't just give in Jezebel, Blackbeard will still come after you. He doesn't care if you back out of who you are or not, he's still out there looking to kill you." He exclaimed.   
  
"But what good does any of it do if I don't have a ship?" She asked wearily, eyes fixed on the view from outside the window.   
  
"You've got The Jezebel; the ship given to you at birth. Surely you've not forgotten it, you carry its symbol 'round your neck." He cried, pointing at the locket.   
  
"I remember this trinket," Elizabeth said as she picked up the locket. "But it never had any rubies on it. It had always been a plain gold locket, when did you add them to it?" She asked her daughter who still knelt on the floor beside her. Examining it herself Jezebel grew just as, if not more, confused as her mother.   
  
"It didn't have rubies on it. Father gave it to me just the other night, the night before the storm. I remember cutting my hand on it, but I don't remember any jewels on it. How very strange, and it's just on the edges of the locket... right were it dug into my hand." She said as she examined the locket. Huffing in frustration she threw down the trinket. "Blackbeard is here, I know he is. I can't give up on who I am; you're right James. It's what father would've wanted, for me to go down fighting. But he's probably watching the Jezebel, waiting for me to return to it, there must be a way to get to the ship without him finding out..."   
  
"He'll be expecting a pirate you know," Elizabeth said, her daughter absentmindedly nodding; caught up in thinking of a way to get around Blackbeard. "But what if instead we gave him a lady?"   
  
"Why do I get the idea that I'm not going to like this at all?" she said looking back at her mother, whose eyebrows were both raised with a mischievous look in her eyes.   
  
"Of course it would have to wait 'til morning, it's getting rather late. You must be terribly hungry; I'll have someone bring you some food. Wait here." She said before running off. Leaving the two in the large hall. Jezebel found this to be her chance to get a closer look at the mounted swords, but the closer she got to them the more she noticed that there was a piece of paper behind them. She barley touched it before it fell from its hiding place.   
  
"What's this?" she whispered while opening it. A map ripped right down the middle. "What's... La Isle De Sangre? What a strange name for an island. Sounds like an adventure waiting to happen." She said before stuffing it in a pocket and walking back to James and her mother, who was just returning from the other room.   
  
"You'll stay here tonight, we'll leave just after dawn." She stopped for a moment, caught in a daze while looking upon her child for the first time in years. "You look so much like your father."   
  
"Funny, he always said I looked just like you." As a server dressed rather uncomfortably rushed in with trays covered in food. Looking at her mother she was drawn to the pearl ring on her finger. 'Wha's this? I'm not big on material treasure.' "That's a lovely ring you got there, mother."

"Oh, this? It was given to me so that when we were finally reunited I could give it to you. I belonged to the Queen Jezebel of the Caribbean Mer- kingdom, herself. She's got an awful lot in mind for you, many plans. Hasn't told anyone though, the only person that's ever come to Port Royal that's ever met her was Captain Sparrow." She said as she removed the trinket from her finger and placed it in her daughters hand.

"What's with all these trinkets falling into my possession as of late? Are they supposed to make up for everything that's been stolen from me in my life? Because it's really not workin. What happens next? Where do I go now?" She asked wearily, the sea breeze the came floating in seemed to lull her and her eyes began to droop.

"Well, at a guess, to bed. You look exhausted! Come, I'll show you to your rooms. I had Estrella set up the guest rooms for you. Jezebel, there will be some clothes laid out for you in the morning..." Elizabeth pulled the tired young pirates towards the stairs, but stopped abruptly at the first step. "But I'm guessing a nice hot bath would be nice before any of that, wouldn't you agree?"

"As long as I get my rags back after we claim my ship. I must admit that I am a tired, what about you, James?" looking back with nearly shut eyes she spied a cloudy figure that simply seemed to be facing her, but his voice was still as sharp and entrancing as ever.

"I'm afraid she might fall asleep in the tub. But I do suppose I myself smell a bit...fishy."

Both Elizabeth and her daughter laughed quietly, one of the first things Jezebel fell witness to in her likenesses with her mother. "We both laugh quietly."

"What's that Jezebel?" her mother asked.

"Oh, nothin, I just...used to ask the crew what you were like and if there was anything we had in common. But I'd never believed that what they said was true."

"Oh what did they say?"

"That I was the daughter of a pirate and an angel, and that it shows in my actions and such." Elizabeth beamed at the girl, her daughter was finally home.

LATER THAT NIGHT...  
  
Unable to sleep, Jezebel tossed on her clean floral robe over her sleeping gown. It felt strange to be wearing new and clean clothes. But a good kind of clean, like an extra ounce or two of energy. Walking to her open window she noticed there was a small balcony, upon walking out onto it she gazed upon a breath-taking view of the Port. But a chill ran down her spine, causing her to wrap her robe around herself a little tighter.

"A perfect night for a bit of a stroll." She said to herself while walking back through her room and out the door. But before she left she saw a candle barely lighting the room in which she found the ripped map, the door was opened a bit, so she leaned forward and strained her ears to listen in on what was being said.

"She's here... she's finally here, my baby. But I know what that means... it means that you are gone, my beloved. You're too far gone for me to ever reach you again. But I have this part of you, it's also part of me but she's mostly you, Will. She has your eyes and your defiant chin... but most importantly your smile. What is there of me in the girl? She doesn't want the life of a noble, I can see it in her eyes... your eyes, but how can I let her go? She's all I have left of you." Elizabeth cried in her corner, cradling a large brown hat with a ridiculously large feather. Jezebel quickly wiped a tear from her cheek, oh how she wanted to go and console her mother.

"I miss him, too, mum. I miss him, too." She whispered softly. Another second and she was gone and out the door.

With the mansion behind her the sea air lead her quietly to the old docks, covered on it's underside with barnacles and mold and chunks of salt that had formed in the years since their creation. But when she neared the Fort she stalled, someone was watching her.

"Hello? Is some one out there?" She called, quite loudly.

A strange man came forward from the shadows, she wasn't afraid of him, of course, but any normal noble girl would be so she played along.

"It's not safe for such a lovely young'n to be wandering this closely to the water at night. Is m'lady lost perhaps?" He said inching towards her slowly, like he had some gross intensions in mind. Little did he know that within the folds of her robe, her sword hung patiently, ready for use. After taking one more step she surprised the dirty man with the clean flash of her blade.

"Another step and I'll run you through!" She hissed as a soldier ran out in front of her, who had not noticed the ready sword in her grasp.

"Madame, is this scoundrel disturbing you?" He said calmly with an air of military haughtiness.

"Yes...but I could well enough manage..." was what she attempted to say, but the man, not seeing that she could well enough defend herself took action.

"Sir, you will apologize to the lady... now, sir!" he said it so quickly that even Jezebel jumped a bit.

"Apologies miss."

"Now," he commanded as another soldier entered the scene. "Gillette, reward this man with some lovely irons, and then escort the gentleman to the jail."

"Yes, sir." Gillette piped as he left with the prisoner. Jezebel took her opportunity to return her weapon to the inside of her robe while the soldiers still weren't looking at her.

"My sincerest apologies miss, but if it's not too bold, may I ask why you wonder our streets so late?"

"Oh," she bubbled, giving her best imitation of her mother, "Just, I couldn't sleep. I wasn't aware that the streets weren't as safe in the night as they were in the day. I'm new here in Port Royal and I..."

"Oh, who are you staying with?" he said light-heartedly. "In the governor's household, with my m—friend Elizabeth."

"Your friend? Oh, how absolutely rude of me, I'm James Norrington, Commodore James Norrington. A family friend to Mrs. Turner. I don't believe I caught your name, Miss..."

"Oh, Commodore, hmm, I suppose I could trust you. I'm Jezebel Katrine Turner, Elizabeth's daughter." The Commodore stood stunned for a moment, obviously not knowing what to think, Jezebel stood there actually afraid of the man who had just saved her from Port Royal's filth of the night. "Are you going to send me to the gallows?"

"Ha, goodness no. You're the governor's granddaughter, not a pirate."

"But I am a pirate, I was raised by them. I've heard stories of you. Not a very nice person... when it come to pirates that is."

"Not many pirates are good either, you know." He said gently, he could tell that the girl was absolutely terrified of him.

"Cap'n Jack is a good pirate... all the pirates of the Pearl were good pirates, yet you hunted them. And now because we were hunted, and not just by you, they are gone and I'm left to live out a prophecy of my people. Lead a new era of piracy... I don't want it! I just want to be with both my parents and live in that nice house up there and not have to fret about any Blackbeard or commodore's with nooses or anything! Just family, no stealin' or killin' or even pilagin'...I wouldn't miss any of that..." said the flustered and frightened girl, her soft fresh curls shaking gently as she ranted on.

"Wait, were...was... you mean that..."

"They're dead! All dead, and it's my fault! Because I'm the leader of a new era, I already told you. The only one left is my dear friend Cap'n Jack, but even he is in Tortugo, not here to console mother's broken heart as well as my own. You won't go after him will you? You can't tell anyone we're even here. Blackbeard is here, waiting for me, he'll kill me if he finds me. Oh, I should go, I shouldn't be here..." she said as she attempted to run off towards home, but the commodore grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Let me escort you home, it's not safe, even for a young pirate queen. I promise I won't tell, nor will I ever hunt Captain Jack Sparrow for as long as I live. You have my word on that, Miss Turner. I'll protect you for as long as you are here in Port Royal." He stated gallantly.

"That would only be for a few more hours, we leave at dawn, once we claim my ship. Then we're off to find adventure in the wind."

"Who is this 'we' you keep addressing? Your mother perhaps?"

"And my rescuer... James West."

"Ah, the young fisherman. A fine lad of his station. Though you are a pirate, you are still of noble blood..."

"I am aware of who and what I am and what he is. I might have noble family, but I live by the rules of piracy and none other." Jezebel hissed defiantly.

"Understood." The commodore whispered as he offered the girl his arm and began to walk in the direction of the Governor's mansion.


	6. More goodbyes, maiden voyages & reunions

A/N: I know the departure of Will in the 4th chapter was a bit of a tear jerker but what can I say? I love the drama of the situation... but note the warning in the summary, "suggests character death... but is it really?" in order to find out what happens.... Keep reading! I'm loving the reviews, so keep sending them!

Upon arriving to the governor's mansion Elizabeth was already waiting at the gate, no sign of worry or anger in her still young and delicate features. But when she saw the commodore escorting her daughter she worried her bottom lip a bit, would he have her hanged?  
  
"James, how nice of you to return my young visitor..." She said apprehensively.  
  
"It's alright, mother. I've already told him... everything. He's going to help us leave with my ship undetected. He'll come back for us in a few hours. Come mother, we need our rest." Jezebel took her mothers hands and began to lead her towards the house when the commodore cleared his throat.  
  
"May I have a word with you Elizabeth; I promise I won't keep your mother long." Jezebel gave him a short nod before she retired to the large house. "She's turned out rather lovely... considering who raised her in your stead. I know that you have graves for both her and Will, and I understand, now, why you never gave up..." he could tell that she was about to say something but continued anyway, "... Will is lucky, to have so much of your love that you would never remarry or give up hope that they were still out there someplace. And I know that because it was only Jezebel that found her way back, but that doesn't mean that..."  
  
"He's dead James; a storm washed her away from the Pearl. Everyone was locked below and she was swept away by a wave..."  
  
"Did she see the ships demise?"  
  
"...I—no."  
  
"Then you have no reason to give up hope this time either. Who knows, maybe they survived. You can't give up now, even I'm hoping for the best on the matter." Removing the small white handkerchief from his sleeve, and gently wiped away the tears that marred Elizabeth's perfect cheek. "The last time I told you I was wishing you the best you had her a year later."  
  
"Perhaps you kind words will bring a miracle a second time?"  
  
"I know it will. Now, you need your rest. I'll return just before sunrise, I'll give you a crew of my finest sailors. Your ship will set sail the moment you step aboard, I've already given the order to have the Jezebel made ready for her first voyage... discreetly of course, whoever is after you won't even know you've already left." He said as he walked the lady to her door.  
  
"Thank you, James. For everything, you'll never know how thankful I am for everything you've ever done for me... for my family," she said motioning to the inside of the house, "For Will and I." Eyes downcast, she returned the handkerchief to the commodore. "We'll be waiting for you."  
  
"Go rest, Mrs. Turner. At dawn you join your daughter where she feels most at home, may god protect you and give you speed."  
  
EARLY THAT MORNING AT THE GOVERNOR'S MANSION.....  
  
"Oh, my! Mother, how do you breathe with these things on?" Jezebel cried through a wince as her chamber maid tightened the strings to her corset tighter than Jezebel thought possible. "Oh, I hope that you're not enjoying this, ma'am."  
  
"Tis my job to make your presentable, Miss. I don't mean to hurt you, it's just the pain of being beautiful." The chamber maid clucked almost as if she had been programmed to say that.  
  
"Don't worry, Jezebel, after a few faints you'll get used to them. But that will work to the advantage of our scheme, the more ladylike the more we'll be able to convince Blackbeard that you are not the girl he's after." Elizabeth said softly as she slowly closed the hatbox containing Jezebel's normal pirate garb. "Just act very proper and we've got him fooled. If you see him and he asks your name say that you are Katrine Swann, my cousin visiting from Puerto Bello."

Jezebel simply gave her a short nod and walked confidently out the front door after James. But as she walked past him, her old, yet cheerful looking grandfather held out a small handkerchief that looked like it had something wrapped up in it.  
  
"This did not come with the prophecy which you were born into. It belonged to your grandmother, Katrine. You look just as she did; this was her most prized possession... aside from Elizabeth. Wear it and think of me. Dear child, I've known you for less than a day and yet I find it hard to let you go a second time." The old man croaked before covering his mouth to stifle a sob, Jezebel took the gift graciously and unwrapped it to find the most beautiful silver bracelet she'd ever seen; a continuous chain of tiny silver seashells.  
  
"Oh, grandfather Swann, It's absolutely divine! Thank you, I shall put it on right now. I'll never remove it, and I shall think of your kind face whenever I look at. We will meet again, in better times; my only regret is that I was never able to let you spoil me as a child. I'm sure I would've liked that. Someday, I promise you, someday the opportunity will present itself again. But until then, goodbye grandfather Swann." She said as she hugged the old man and kissed his cheek, smiled and left the Swann property once more.  
  
Guided by their commodore friend, the three of them traveled quietly through the sleeping town, down to the docks where the Jezebel floated proudly, awaiting her one true owners arrival. Jezebel looked at the ship with awe, this... this was hers. But where is the flag that signified it as such? Where was the flag with her symbol?  
  
"Commodore Norrington, where's the flag?" She asked curiously.  
  
"For your further protection, the flag will not be raised until you are safely out of the bay. That way, Blackbeard will not know that this is your ship leaving Port Royal."  
  
"But hasn't the flag been up before?" before he answered he leaned close to Jezebel so that she would be the only one who would hear him.  
  
"It has been waiting for its owner to return to it." He whispered as a wide grin found its way to Jezebel's face. Stepping away from the ships railing he called back to the ships passengers. "Good luck and Godspeed to you all. May we see you return to us with tales of much good fortune!"  
  
THAT EVENING AS THE JEZEBEL NEARS TORTUGO...  
  
"Have you ever been here before, Jezebel?" Elizabeth asked while her daughter stole a secret glance at James and shared secret smile with the young man.  
  
"Yes mother, I was six years old the last time I was here. I had wandered off on my own and found James, here, following me. He had fallen prisoner to Blackbeard and was fortunate enough to get away. He thought I was also being held prisoner by some pirate ship, I rescued him then and returned him to his home of Port Langly" She said as she daydreamed back to the days of her youth.  
  
"It wasn't the last I saw of her between then and now. She saved me again in the streets of Port Langly. Then she nearly met an early end at Blackbeard's hand, but he isn't a very quick fellow, we were able to convince him that she was not only twenty and not fourteen but that she wasn't the girl he was looking for. And that the girl he was pursuing was lost somewhere in the Bermuda triangle! It was quite brilliant as I remember." The two began to laugh in the remembrance of past adventures together.  
  
"Have you ever been to Tortugo before, mother?"  
  
"No, your father had been here only a few times on his adventures with Jack... Captain Jack." She corrected herself quietly, looking at the island longingly, thinking that perhaps, by some stretch of a miracle Will had been washed up on the shores of this pirate town. "Why are we stopping here again?"  
  
"Cap'n Jack knows where the other part of this map is. I don't know what or where I'm supposed to go without the other side of it. He knows, and perhaps he can join us, too. I would appreciate it very much if he could." She said as she watched the island crawl closer and closer towards them.  
  
TORTUGO THE NEXT DAY...  
  
"Excuse me Madame, could you tell me where I might find a Cap'n Jack Sparrow?" Jezebel asked the first person she got to... a trashy blond prostitute in a ratty maroon dress.  
  
"In the tavern most of the time. What's a pretty young girl like you doin' in a run down place such as Tortugo?" She asked kindly, almost in a motherly way.  
  
"He's a family friend. I need his help actually," at that the prostitute scoffed, "I'm looking for the Turner treasure, and to defeat Blackbeard." But at that she froze.  
  
"Blackbeard you say? Then you must be Jezebel Turner! Oh, I've heard stories of you. It's an honor to meet your acquaintance." Said the curtseying lady of the night.  
  
"Oh thank you, finally something positive from this prophecy. Please, don't make it too obvious to everyone who I am. I'm trying to keep a low profile..."  
  
"Right, because of Blackbeard; he'll be watching your ship closely. Best if you didn't find Jack and leave in no hurry. You are more than welcome to stay at my bungalow for the night; I would be honored to be your hostess for your stay." She said quietly.  
  
"That's very kind of you; I just need to retrieve my mother and fellow pirate from my ship."  
  
"What are their names; I'll get them while you find Jack. Best hurry Miss Turner, it's getting late. The tavern will be closing soon."  
  
"Right... thank you again Madame." She said gratefully as she rushed off to find the tavern. Sure enough, as she entered the pub she saw her Cap'n slumped in a corner with an empty mug in one hand, a pistol in the other and his hat pulled down over his eyes. "Cap'n?" she asked, trying desperately to sound sturdy and brave, but her voice broke immediately after she began to speak.  
  
"Jezzy-poppet?" he jumped out of his chair while it crashed to the floor behind him. Dropping his mug and removing his hat, quickly putting his pistol back in his belt. "Is that you girl? All done up in lace and everything fancy?" she laughed at his comment, sure that she looked like a brave and proper young noble woman, but on the inside she was the exact opposite of it all.  
  
"Aye Cap'n, it's me, lil Jezzy-poppet; All pretty and without a father." She said through the tears that threatened to fall.  
  
"I didn't want any of this for you. You know I asked bloody stupid Will if he wanted to come with me to Tortugo... but he said that everything had to go as prophesized. I truly am sorry, what is it that you need, love?" for the first time she didn't just see a friendly pirate, but a friend, a concerned friend that was willing to go to the ends of the earth for her.  
  
"Where is the other half of this map located?" she said as she held out the old map she'd found at the manor.  
  
"Oh, I remember this. I had one bloody hell of a time trying to find a place to hide it. Uhh, the other half is hidden deep in the caves of Isle De La Muerta. But you can't find it unless you've been there before, and you haven't."  
  
"But you have, Cap'n. I need your help, I don't know what this map might lead me to, but I have to try. For father, I promised him I would... just before..." she turned her eyes downcast, unable to finish her sentence, and was obviously frustrated by not being able to.  
  
"I understand. This could be my last adventure, why not do it for your dear old dad?" he didn't know it, but his sentence had caught Jezebel off guard.  
  
"Wait...last adventure?"  
  
"Another part of the prophecy that doesn't have much to do with you. Just that you lead me to the glorious end of the legend that is... Cap'n Jack Sparrow. Oh, but don't fret poppet, it's not something to be sad about. When it happens it will be my time to go."  
  
"And what about father? Was it really his time to go as I came of age? I'm not really convinced that it was."  
  
"Another one of life's mysteries that we'll never find the answer to. You can't worry about that now, what you need to be focusing on right now is how you're going to defeat Blackbeard..."  
  
"And Barbossa."  
  
"What about him?" He asked, back to his old drunken slurred speech.  
  
"He's back, and after the Turner bloodline... Bootstrap and father are gone, that only leaves me. Once I'm done with Blackbeard I go up against him and I will, I have to, it's who I am... who I'm meant to be"  
  
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on jus' a minute there, love. What do you mean, 'He's back'? He can't be back, he's been dead longer 'an you've been alive."  
  
"So I've heard, but I've seen him in my dreams... nightmares, actually. Ever since I was a child he's haunted them. The other night I actually saw his face, he told me not to go to Port Royal. Said that Blackbeard was waiting there to blow his Pearl out of the water. Bloody lot of good that did anyone, the Pearl still sank. I'm the only survivor; I wish I had gone down with them all." Jezebel began to fidget nervously, as if she knew someone was watching her but she didn't know who or where they were.  
  
"Any proof on Barbossa? Don't get me wrong, I believe ye, I just need a lil bit o' proof to sober me up." With a slight grin Jezebel reached into the rather heavy handbag that had been cutting off the circulation in her hand the entire voyage to Tortugo, and pulled out the pistol that she'd found alongside her sword the morning after her latest nightmare.  
  
"I found this the day after you left, or rather, it found me. No one brought it back aboard, and we've never sailed close enough to Isle De La Muerta that someone or something could've snuck it on. I think it was Barbossa..."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I don't know. But it got there, right? It's real, and it's really his."  
  
"Are you here with anyone?"  
  
"Ye—"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Mother and James..."  
  
"Norrington?"  
  
"West."  
  
"Your old friend from your last trip here? Lil James West, the one that was in love with you?"  
  
"That would be him. Now c'mon Cap'n, we don't have much time. It's getting late; we've been offered a place to stay for the night..."  
  
"From who?"  
  
"A prostitute."  
  
"Which one?!"  
  
"I think the name was Drezelle... or something like that, why?"  
  
"Oh, bloody hell. I bet she's mad at me for some thing I didn't do." Jezebel simply shook her head at the drunken captain and laughed, she knew it wasn't his fault that he had bad luck with women, but she found it all strangely amusing.  
  
And so the two pirates, both young and old, walked off to meet up with the rest of their party completely unaware of the pirate hidden by the night's shadows. He'd been watching the girl for some time now, and had first caught sight of her one the fisherman's barge that had rescued her. Having felt like he'd seen her before he followed her, like a lost puppy; never straying much further than a mile or two behind. Whether he would help or hinder the girl in her adventures is still yet to be seen.


	7. The return ofa long dead pirate,orwas he

Much like she had been during her stay in Port Royal, Jezebel was unable to sleep, but instead of walking about the drunkard town like she had in her hometown she decided to remain watchful from the porch of the small hut. The prostitute that gave them their bed to rest in for the night was still hard at work in the taverns. Jezebel kept a keen eye on her surroundings, completely unaware that she was still dressed as a noble girl.  
  
Raising her eyes to the starry heavens she knew that this perfect quiet wouldn't last long, it would be the calm before the storm. Everything would go downhill from here on... wait a minute... hadn't it already? She'd lost her father and her crew, but found her childhood love, her mother, and her captain. The negative was still out weighing the positive by a landslide.  
  
What she hadn't noticed was the figure behind her, creeping about in the dark, stalking slowly towards her. Snap! A twig broke. Turning her head slightly to the right to see who was behind her, a hand came from her left and clamped itself over her mouth. Muffling a scream.  
  
"_Don't_ scream. I'm not here to hurt ye. Can I trust ye won't holler the second I remove me hand?" the voice asked, right into her left ear. She knew that voice, or thought she had. Nodding very slowly she felt the strong arm restraining her arms relax. The left arm lowering gently from her face grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.  
  
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" she demanded harshly, still unable to see the person that had surprised her. Straining her eyes to see the person, she noticed that it was a tall man in his late fifties; tan from sun exposure but with white hair that hung limply to his shoulders.  
  
"Call me Bill. An' as I said I ain't gonna hurt ye, I's here to help ye. I know wha' hunts ye, an' I know yer mission, tis a fool's errand." He talked like Jack, but his voice was closer to her father's.  
  
"How do you know that, Bill? How do you know what my mission is?" She questioned, stepping forward into reach of the small torch that was firmly implanted in the ground not far from them, the reflection of flames in her eyes only emphasized the anger that burned in her soul.  
  
"The Turner Treasure? Blackbeard an' Barbossa... stop me when I'm getting' close." She looked at him without belief, how did he know? Had he been following them?  
  
"What Turner Treasure? You've been following us, haven't you? For how long then?" the anger in her eyes smoldered into something else...fear.  
  
"Jack hasn't told ye 'bout the Turner Treasure, eh? Probably fer the best, tha'. But I'm right 'bout Barbossa then?" though her expression never faltered nor altered, he saw the truth in her eyes.  
  
"Who are you?" She said bravely, but she took a step backward with a gasp as the man took a step forward... "Father?" she asked, brows furrowed, eyes tearing up.  
  
"No. I be too ol' to be the father o' such a lovely young'n. Never 'ad a daughter, I 'ad a son, but I fear I've lost 'im to the sea." She knew that he was talking about Will Turner, her father... his son. Her heart leapt in her chest... but wait, wasn't he dead?  
  
"Bill... Bootstrap Bill Turner?" the man nodded solemnly, his face now better illuminated by the small torch she saw her father's face weathered by age, sun and years of sorrow. "Grandfather?" he nodded again. "But...how? You were—"  
  
"Dead?" the man let out a hefty chuckle as he threw back his head, catching Jezebel off guard, so much so that she jumped. "We'd already been a cursed ship an' crew by then. I couldn't die, an' by the time the curse 'ad been lifted, I was well out o' the ocean. I've been barely livin' on a lonesome island fer years. Came to Tortuga, t'was then tha' I first saw ye. Ye were a tiny tot then... ye're not so much tha' any more."  
  
"You saw me in Tortuga when I was young? That was ages ago." She said as a glimmer of yesteryear filtered into her minds eye. She remembered that visit, when she first met James. She beamed at the memory, a good memory; one when she had still felt like she had some say in her life. Where do the times go?  
  
"Aye, an' I bet ye remember tha' was ye're first run in with the likes o' Blackbeard's crew." She gave him a mysterious look.  
  
"How did you know about that?" she asked taking a step towards him. There were many things that he'd known of her life and yet very little that she'd ever known of him.  
  
"Distracted 'em, the two tha' were af'er ye an' the boy. I stalled 'em so's ye could get 'im to the ship. An' in Port Langly a few years la'er, I saw ye an' the boy rescuin' each other. T'was a cunnin' thing ye convinced Blackbeard o' when 'e nearly killed ye. I haven't been followin' ye.... Jus tryin' to make sure me gran-daugh'er ain't in any type o' danger when she don't need to be in. s'not 'er time yet for danger. Savvy?" She nodded, he hadn't been there for most of his sons life, it made perfect sense to her that he would want to try to make up for lost time with his granddaughter.  
  
"And Port Royal? Were you there, too? Were you there watching me meet my mother... Did you see that? Did you see me loose my father, your son? It was my fault, you know, me and my stupid prophecy." Jezebel said as she tugged at a the single curl that hung elegantly over her shoulder that lead to the elegant up-do that her mother had fashioned and often wore herself.  
  
"Aye, I saw ye meet ye mum. T'was a lovely lil reunion, one I wished I'd 'ad with yer ol' man. 'er the perfect mix o' yer mum an' father. 'ave nuthin' but their finest attributes in tha' face o' yers." She turned her head downwards in shame, hiding fresh tears. "An' don't try hidin it neither. Ye 'ave yer granmum's bewitchin eyes, the same as ol Will's. I bet he was extra proud o' ye, I know I be proud o' my gran-daugh'er, princess o' piracy. I wouldn't know any reason why ol Will wouldn't be burstin—" he was cut off by an explosion from the direction of the tavern partiers. Both pirates whipped their heads in the direction of the commotion.  
  
"What was that?" Elizabeth cried as she rushed out of the hut, quickly followed by Sparrow and James. James walked over to his pirate love and wrapped his arms around her to make sure she wasn't hurt.  
  
"Jack."  
  
"Yea poppet."  
  
"You were wrong."  
  
"'bout what, girl?"  
  
"Granddad, he didn't die after you were first marooned on an island." She said carefully. Watching Bill over Captain Jack's shoulder, hidden in the shadows.  
  
"Wha' do you mean, poppet?" He said narrowing his brow, and leaning in towards the girl drunkenly.  
  
"Well, you see. Bootstrap Bill Turner is very much alive, and has been following... no, watching over us for quite some time now." She said slowly. Trying very hard not to go so quickly and vaguely as to not confuse Jack and give him a headache.  
  
"What do you mean, Jezebel?" he said curiously.  
  
"Because, uh, dear Cap'n, uh, he's uh..." she stammered, an action very much outside of her usual fiery and straight forward personality.  
  
"Right be'ind ye, ye ol' scallywag." Bill boomed from behind Jack. Jack spun around, quite drunkenly for a man who hadn't touched any rum in a few hours.  
  
"Bloody 'ell, Bootstrap?" He asked incredulously, thinking that it was merely the ghost of his best friend.  
  
"Not 'ell. Just the luck o' the Caribbean, these wa'ers don't wan' me to die it seems. I've been watchin' ye 'elp raise me grandchild, I see ye've done a bloody damn good job. She's a triple threat." Jezebel blushed slightly, she remembered back home on the Pearl that Jack had said the exact same thing. "Pity 'bout yer ship, Jack. But I must say, the mos' important jewel on it survived, and everything else... a pity. But now I'm afraid we've got to fin' out wha' happened near the docks, come on, plenty of time for reunions and explanations la'er." He said as he lead the way back to the docks of Tortuga, stopping short of the wooden planks he let out a small cry.  
  
"What's wrong Grandfather?" Jezebel said before she lifted her gaze to see the flaming ship sitting in the middle of the harbor. "Oh no, what ship is that? It can't be the Jezebel can it?"  
  
"Nay child, tha' be mine. The Cooper, a small ship, but she was fast." He replied sadly, removing his hat to show a deeper sadness, and grave respect for his ship.  
  
"Then where's our ship?" Jack slurred.  
  
"We hid the Jezebel; your lil friend told us that we had to be more careful about Tortuga. So she's hidden behind some rocks in the bay." James said, his eyes never leaving the burning mass.  
  
"Who could have done this, Bill? I mean, what did you have on that thing?" Elizabeth said as she squinted her eyes from the blaze.  
  
"Not more 'an rum, and... well, rum."  
  
"So it's gone?" Jack asked looking quite shaken. Rum, who would want to destroy perfectly good rum? Then he looked over at an unsuspecting Elizabeth, it couldn't have been her, she was asleep in the hut and didn't even know about Bill.  
  
"Aye, Jack, rum's gone."  
  
"But why is the rum gone?" he asked hopefully, as soon as the words escaped him Elizabeth turned her head and couldn't help but grin mischievously. His hopes were doused, however, when the barge began to sink into the water letting out a most sickening hiss as the salt water quenched the flames.  
  
"Well, someone knew you were here, and by the looks of it, they didn't really want you here. You'll have to sail with us now, Grandfather." Jezebel said  
  
"But the rum, Poppet, wha' 'bout the rum?" Jack asked wildly as he followed the young girl back to where they had come.  
  
"We'll stock up before we leave tomorrow, don't worry Cap'n; we won't leave you high and dry." She said as she thought of her father with a restless pain reverberating in her heart. 'Your father has returned, he was just a few days late. Maybe, he might have been able to save you. But this, I will never know for sure. I miss you, father, but I know your watching over me.'

A/N: Ugh, sad I know. But there are many things that have yet to unfold for young Jezebel, some that even captain Jack isn't aware of! But does Elizabeth know of the missing pieces to this puzzle of madness? The answers are coming in the chapters to come....... So read on! And please be kind, review! and the little ship The Cooper is actually just a referance to my fav. car the mini cooper, such awesome lil cars. Anyway, more later.


	8. Secondguesses and a mother's poetry

Captain America: thank you for your emotional reviews, but all i can say in reply is that patience is the best thing... b/c all shall be revealed in good time.

Disclaimer: anything that wasn't in the movie is mine(except blackbeard)... basically just a few people and one or two places.

* * *

Jezebel woke with the morning sun the next day, smiling she left the elegant dress laid out for her and ripped open the hat box containing her pirate garb.  
  
"They cleaned it? Oh well, let's put this noble dress back in the box, never know when that'll come in handy again." She said as she folded the extravagant gown gently and laid it in the box with more care than a pirate could ever be known for. "Ah, feels good to be back in my rags. I wonder where everyone went off to?" leaving the hut she saw its owner walking up the dirt path, looking tired after a busy night.  
  
"Mornin' Miss Turner, I trust you slept well?" She said as she threw her a pomegranate. Catching it Jezebel studied the fruit. "Fresh from Spain; Best for breakfasts on the run, I bought a whole bag of it for you an' your family. The old man already took it to the ship, he said tha' if I saw ya I was to tell ya where he was an' tha' he was hopin' to talk."  
  
"Did he say what about?" She said while she further examined the fruit.  
  
"No, just said he wanted to talk to his granddaughter, I'm guessin' tha's you. You eat the seeds," said the lady of the night as she received a strange look from the pirate girl, "The pomegranate? You eat its seeds, everything else is all rubbish." She said sweetly as she walked past the girl, but as she did, Jezebel turned back to her.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"For what? I've heard a lot about you, and a girl's gotta keep her job, in helping you I'm securing me job here in Tortuga. Girl there ain't nothin' anybody here wouldn't do for you."  
  
"But thank you anyway, for all that you've done for us. It was very kind of you."  
  
"Eh, think nothin' of it. That's sweet of you, to thank anyone for anything. Pirates don't usually do that... but then again, you ain't the usual pirate lass, you be the princess o' piracy, you're different from any of 'em." Then the prostitute Giselle (A/N: I know I said her name was Dreselle a couple of chapters ago, but I just read the POTC script from the DVD on my laptop and I found out I was wrong, so...sorry. Now back to the story), walked back to her little hut and out of the lives of the pirates she had helped.  
  
When she reached the docks Jezebel saw that Jack, James, and Bill had just finished loading large quantities of something onto the Jezebel and were returning to the docks. She found Elizabeth close by purchasing some clothes from a nearby stand. Upon seeing her daughters questioning look Elizabeth simply shrugged at her daughter.  
  
"You don't expect me to go about pirating in a dress and heels, do you? I have a sword from your father's shop from years ago, but I didn't have the appropriate attire. Are you ready to find Isle De La Muerta?" the mere mention of the name sent a chill through her heart.  
  
"As ready as a pirate should be, but after last night I'm afraid that whoever destroyed Bill's ship has stowed away in the Jezebel." As she spoke the row boat reached the dock and James ran to the girl.  
  
"Good morning, Jezebel, Mrs. Turner." He said as he received a nod and a smile from both women, "We're all ready to venture off to Pearl Reef."  
  
"Pearl Reef... why Pearl Reef, what's waiting for us there?" Jezebel questioned quietly, no one outside of the few crazy locals Jack had found to help them sail to their destinations were to know anything about where they had been or where they were going.  
  
"Captain said that before we can go lookin' for the Isle De Sangre, we had to make a quick stop at the Pearl Reef islands. Said that there was someone that you're supposed to meet, something about mermaids... I dunno."  
  
"Queen Jezebel, of the Caribbean Mermaids; of course, she'll probably tell me exactly what my prophecy has in mind for me. Great, well, we should get going then shouldn't we?" with a nod they walked in the direction of the two waiting pirates. 'This should be very interesting' she thought to herself.  
  
ON THE JEZEBEL, ON THE WAY TO THE PEARL REEFS.........  
  
That evening the sunset found Jezebel looking homesick, she stood leaning against the railing of the forward starboard side of the ship, watching the emotionless sun fall into the elusive horizon, she felt alone, forsaken. The black obsidian waters beckoning her onward, the dying skies weighed down on her eyelids making them heavier by the minute. Her mother watched with sadness from the poop deck.  
  
"Jack, she seems so sad," Elizabeth said softly, "Did the mermaid see Barbossa coming?"  
  
"She ne'er said nuthin' 'bout Barossa, I don't think tha's wha' she's sad 'bout. Could be somthin' more, maybe s'Bill. 'e does look jus' like 'er father." Jack said as he spun the wheel to the Jezebel one more time. Elizabeth sighed deeply at the thought of loosing your father one day and meeting his supposedly dead father a few days later, she could only imagine the despair and guilt that she knew her daughter felt for both herself and her grandfather.  
  
"Where is Bill anyway, I know I saw him when we set sail, but I haven't seen him since." Elizabeth said looking about herself.  
  
"Birds nest, anywhere he can be alone with a great view." Sparrow replied coolly. "Those breeches don't look bad on ye, by the way." He shut up quickly when she threw him a deathly glare, then quickly shot up to the yardarm and found Bill sitting calmly watching the see crashing against and rolling away from the ship.  
  
"Elizabeth, lovely view from 'ere ay? Ya know, I used to imagine goin' back to England an' findin' me son there, whisking 'im away to the Caribbean to find 'imself. I always knew tha' there would ne'er be anythin' for 'im there. I knew his mother was ill, but I 'ad no idea he'd already come 'ere. Then I saw 'im with lil Jezebel, leavin' Port Royal with a lil bundle cradled in 'is arms. I've been followin' 'im e'er since. I guess 'e did find 'imself, without me."  
  
"Will never had to look, he was always sure of who he was, what he wanted. He'd known since the day he was rescued from the water and was put in my charge until we arrived in Port Royal. We were kids then, nine maybe ten years old..."  
  
"Tha's when 'e found 'imself, the moment 'e laid eyes on you."  
  
"But I didn't realize it until it was almost too late, a commodore had proposed and I had been kidnapped by Barbossa. After spending days scared and alone with a bunch of undead pirates... I just wanted for him to rescue me, and he did. That's when I knew that, I too, loved him from the moment I first met him."  
  
"Then Jezebel came 'bout?"  
  
"A few years later, we had a few more adventures after Barbossa. Had she been a boy we would have named her after Jack. But he came rushing in, 'Jezebel, Jezebel, her name is to be Jezebel!'" Elizabeth recalled with a laugh, still clutching the rigging for dear life, "He's like a brother to us and supposedly an uncle to Jezebel, he's a good man."  
  
"Aye, tha' 'e be, true enough. She blames 'erself." The old man said quietly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Jezebel, she blames 'erself fer wha' 'appened to Will. I can see it from 'ere, she's drippin' in guilt, a guilt tha' ain't hers." Elizabeth looked down and found her daughter watching the water rush towards the ship only to find itself swishing behind the rudders as the boat cut through the water like a sharp knife. Melancholy and grief written all over the girls face.  
  
"I can't begin to imagine how she feels."  
  
"Sure ye can."  
  
"What do you mean?  
  
"When you were stuck on the Pearl with Barbossa, how did you feel?"  
  
"Alone, scared, defeated... like the world had turned against me."  
  
"Now, how do ye know tha' she doesn't feel ezzactly like tha'?"  
  
"I don't, but I didn't feel guilty about anything, there was nothing I could do to avoid being kidnapped."  
  
"Ah, she don't know it yet, but tha's ezzactly wha' she should be feelin', like it was unavoidable. 'Cause t'was, wasn't it?" Elizabeth answered with a nod, returning her gaze to the dying sun. Looking back to her daughter she saw a dark form walking up from behind her, after a moment's worry she realized it was James, the young man that had found her after the storm. He was a nice lad, and madly in love with Jezebel.  
  
'Just like Will and I.'  
  
"They be like you an' me boy. Let's hope they be blessed with good times like the ones you 'ad with Will." Bill said, seemingly reading his daughter- in-laws thoughts, turning to her he gave her a toothy grin.  
  
'He's got a mouthful of gold, just like Jack.' She said with a smirk, 'The gold teeth and white hair are the only differences between him and his son... Oh Will, you have no idea how much you are missed.' She thought as her smile faded, Bill saw this and turned back to the sea that lay before him.  
  
"Don't you be goin' soft now, too. We've got to snap Jezebel out o' her guilt spell, now is the time tha' she needs to be focused an' cold 'bout everythin'... s'the only way we can win any o' this war." His eyes, now fixed, did not see Elizabeth wipe stubbornly at the frustrated tears that dared to fall.  
  
"Do you know what's next?" the old man returned his gaze to the still beautiful noble woman, he's eyes reflecting everything she'd loved about her husband, the window's to the soul, Will's soul was endless as the sea. Will.  
  
"We're 'bout to find out. We'll reach Pearl Reef jus' af'er sunrise. I suggest you an' the girl get some sleep; you'll both be needin' it."  
  
Elizabeth nodded slowly, still caught in a world where her husband was still alive and within her grasp. Carefully climbing down the rungs of the rigging she thought of every blissful day that followed the one where Jack was nearly hung and Will had set him free, she had been so scared that the commodore would hang Will in Sparrow's absence. Left foot; the proposal, she could remember how the blood rushed to her head when Will got down on one knee. Right foot; when she had her wedding dress specially designed for her at the Governor's mansion, how she was so ecstatic that she never felt the clumsy seamstress prick her again, and again. Left foot; when Will came home with the specially made wedding bands, how she gushed over how elegant they were. Right foot; the big day, her father cried and Jack wasn't drunk for once...but that didn't negate the erratic behavior. Left foot; the day they announced she was with child, the joy in the room could have suffocated the both of them; they had chosen to announce it at one of her father's extravagant parties. When her right foot hit the deck the memories of Jezebel's birth rushed into her mind with the sway of the barge; the excitement, the elaborate gifts for a child that had been only a moment or two in age, Jack's entrance, Will's going on and on about 'this so-called "Prophecy" being ridiculous', how he would never and could never leave her, her insistence for going with what Jack said. Why Elizabeth? Why pain yourself and your child with such an agreement? Why give up Will for some silly prophecy?  
  
"Mum... are you alright?" That was her reason, so that she could see her daughter reach this age... so she could rest knowing her daughter would live to see the sunrise for as many years as she could. No sooner had she realized this she also realized she had been standing there looking straight at her daughter and the young man who had his arms wrapped around the girl.  
  
"Y—yes, I'm fine." She said shaking herself from her dream-like state. "Bill says that we'll reach the Pearl Reefs at sunrise, and that until then we should rest." Then she turned and walked as quickly as her sea legs could carry her, which wasn't very good considering how many years since she'd been on a ship for more than an hour or two.  
  
Jezebel grinned at her mother and quickly noted that she would be down in a moment, but that she had to ask Captain Sparrow a question before she retired. She didn't make her way over to the captain until she'd watched both her mother and her lover go below, flashes of the night before the storm ran rapidly through her mind, a cold chill ran down her spine at the same time. "No, not again." She whispered quietly to herself.  
  
"Captain, may I have a word with you?"  
  
"Aye poppet, what be troublin' ye now?" he asked gently in his gruffest tone.  
  
"S'not another storm coming... is there?" he shook his head without breaking his gaze on the sea before him, "...What's that hanging from your pocket, Cap'n?"  
  
"I don't know..." he carefully removed the parchment from his coat pocket, stared at it for a moment, then handed it to her, "S'a letter from yer mum to Will from when you were still a baby, one of the few letters he was able to get."  
  
"Have you ever read it?"  
  
"No, your father wanted me to give it to you. Said he wanted you to know how much they both loved ye, enough to be separated fer possibly the rest of their lives. S'supposed to be very romantic, a poem, I think, is wha' Will said it was."  
  
"**I **watched you leave

That one-way door.

I won't see you in these

Streets again,

Like I had so many times

When I only called you 'Friend'.

**B**ut as you leave, 

And leave for good,

I know it's not the end.

Be it some exotic place,

Or my wildest dreams,

I'll see your face again.

**A**nd once more we'll be,

As we've been for some time now,

A couple, with a shared lovers glance.

**I** need that now, 

Don't care how,

I need to feel you

Standing next to me,

The strength in your hands,

Holding mine in their grasp.

**U**ntil that time, 

I give you this rhyme,

And hope that it will be enough

For the both of us." Wet spots from tears smeared the ink on the page, looking up she barely caught Jack quickly wiping a tear from his own eye.  
  
"Wha? I got somethin' in me eye!" he exclaimed, covering up for himself quite badly.  
  
"So beautiful, do you think that if I had stayed in Port Royal I would have written some thing as lovely as this?"  
  
"Darling... it wouldn't be for James West, it might have been directed at the commodore for all we know. S'just one o' those things tha's best ne'er known. Does it say anything else?"  
  
"Just that as the days pass she longs for our return more and more... something about the commodore and his wife are expecting a son, and that when we finally return there is to be an arranged marriage between me and the commodore's son... that's not fair!" she exclaimed throwing down her arm in a huff of frustration.  
  
"No, it's not, you're right about that. I was never happy with that decision; it was my father's decision. He said that the Norrington's would become part of his family whether it was through me or you. But a year after that letter, the boy would only be a few months younger than you, when he was off in Port Langly with his father... the boy was kidnapped. They never found him, that's why when you were in Port Royal the Commodore didn't mention it nor rush into it. Both the commodore and I decided to let fate place them with someone who would love them in return. I see my daughter has lived up her part of that bargain. I wonder if somewhere, Jameson Norrington Jr. is upholding his part." Elizabeth spoke from behind her daughter; having caught both her daughter's and Jack's attention.

* * *

A/N: Ok, this wasn't as short and action packed as I had originally promised... but the plot thickens! And the poem is mine, you may use it to win your honey's heart, but it is my poem and I only ask that I get due credit for it. I wrote it for my baby who is coincidentally moving to the southern Caribbean very soon. It is called My Goodbye, since I'm very bad with regular goodbyes. The bolding of the letters in the poem is to show that there is supposed to be an extra space between that line and the one before it, unfortunately this quickeditor doesn't seem to want to let me do that, go figure. Thank you for reading, now please review! I can't get enough of these lovely reviews! 


	9. The queen of the Pearl Reefs

"Damn bloody corset... I can't breathe in this thing!" Jezebel cursed under her breathe in frustration, she didn't want anyone to know that she still wore the damn contraption; mostly because she didn't know how to remove the thing. Her mother didn't seem to mind her own torture device any more. 'How does she do it?' She thought. But before she could ask an island came into view. "Land-ho!" She cried happily, finally she would get some real answers on the matter of this ridiculous prophecy.  
  
Jack and the rest on board the Jezebel rushed to the starboard side of the ship, there it was, the Pearl Reefs. The greenery of the island was a deeper emerald than that of James' eyes; the cool blue of the waterfalls was an exact match to the blue of her mother's dress from the night before; the white sand was the color of her mother's creamy complexion. Though the dark storm clouds that loomed ominously over the island weighed heavily on Jezebel's heart, the over all appearance of the island seemed to comforted her.  
  
"An' so it begins...." Jack said quietly, spinning around in his usual drunken manner he searched for the young pirate princess, "Poppet....poppet! Where are ye, poppet?"  
  
"Oi, Jack, I'm over here." She said from the starboard side of the poopdeck.  
  
"Are ye ready, poppet? 'cause, ye ne'er know wha' the ol' fish is gonna tell ye, ye have to be ready fer wha' e'er she 'as to tell ye."  
  
"I know, Cap'n. Whatever she has to tell me, I can take it. I've survived everything else she's thrown at me so far; I'm not at all worried."  
  
"Ye understan' you'll be completely alone?"  
  
"I had an idea I would be."  
  
"I'll take ye to shore, bu' after tha' ye're all by ye onesies."  
  
"_I get the picture, Cap'n_!" Jezebel huffed, obviously annoyed at Jack she did more than just tug at the ropes to tied to the rowboat, she had pulled it so hard that the little boat nearly shattered against the side of the ship.  
  
"Yes, obviously." He said cautiously.  
  
"So what is she like... exactly?" She said in a more tranquil tone than a moment ago, eyes fixed on him sadly, as if she were afraid of any answer.  
  
"'er Majesty is very kind, 'as a motherly aura, ye feel safe 'round her... very safe. 'er voice sounds like ye're dreamin'; s'not a fast speech, nor s'it a slow one, s'the kind of voice ye would 'ear if ye were daydreamin' an' someone is tryin' t' talk t' ye, kinda distant soundin'. 'er eyes are almost as bone chillin' as yers, they can see straigh' inta yer soul, no matter how much ye figh' it. She knows e'erythin', there's no possible... or probable way t' lie t' 'er... an' she don't much like it when ye try t' lie t' 'er. S'tha' a good enough description fer ye, Poppet?"  
  
"Yes, Jack, that will just about do it for me. Will she tell me everything that's going to happen to me?" She asked as Jack gently shook his head.  
  
"Only wha' ye need t' know t' get through this first major battle coming up fer ye." Jezebel cast her eyes down to the navy waves that crashed against the ship; the waves seemed to beckon her forward. 'Go to her, go to the queen!' they seemed to call. Nodding slightly she began to clamber down into the small boat upon the waves as they continued to call to her. Her hand slipped and was caught on a barnacle near the handle.  
  
"Blast!" She muttered under her breath as her other hand began to slip, attempting to grab hold of the ship with her bloodied hand she failed... but before she fell to the threatening waters below her a hand grabbed her wrist. Looking back up she was greeted by James' loving green eyes.  
  
"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye to me, were you?" he said sweetly as he pulled her up with his left arm, wrapping the other around her waste to bring her in for a kiss. He ran his left hand through her hair, he wanted to feel her by his side, he had a bone chilling feeling that something bad was about to happen and he wouldn't see her again. His eyes reflected just that when they parted.  
  
"Something wrong, James?" She said with her soul-piercing gaze, he shook his head sadly.  
  
"Just wanted to say goodbye... and good luck, and... that's all." He pecked her on the cheek before he let go of the girl, he tried to smile as she lowered herself once more to the small boat tapping lightly against the ship like a petulant child would bump against their parent when wanting to leave a place or situation. Even as Jack rowed the boat quickly and steadily to the shore, Jezebel kept her gaze locked with her lover's, until he finally turned away as they the reached shore.  
  
Hitting his knees after they had stopped, Jack looked at Jezebel and for the first time in her life he saw fear in her eyes, but it wasn't a fear for the sake of others... it was a fear for herself, for her own life.  
  
"'ere ye go, she's waitin' fer ye; ye don't wanna keep 'er waitin', luv." He said leaning his head in the direction of the waterfall of the island, turning her head she saw a distant slim figure of a woman standing there... welcoming the girl to the island, beckoning her with her hands. Though she was very far away, Jezebel could tell she was smiling at her.  
  
"So that's her?"  
  
"Aye, tha's 'er." With a weak nod Jezebel got up and climbed out of the boat, feeling weighed down by them, she stopped to remove her boots and tucked them under her arms. The sand felt cool and soft under her feet, tickling her between her toes. Half way there she stopped dead in her tracks; she heard voices calling out her name, she could even identify a few of them. She could hear James, her mother, Bootstrap, grandfather Swann, Annamaria, Jack, and one more that caused her breath to shorten and her eyes to water: Father. She put her hand to her heart as it seemed to have skipped a beat; in finding her locket she began to twirl her fingers in the chain. His last gift to her, she would refuse to be parted from it, if ever it was asked of her.  
  
Lifting her chin she started her trek towards the figure again. As she neared the figure the woman that waited became more and more beautiful, she looked just like Elizabeth, slightly different but for the most part just the same. She was covered in crème colored silks that matched the color of her skin, silk that wrapped around her stomach and chest like a strapless bodice and the skirt of her skin toned dress flowed from that bodice down to the ground two feet behind the woman. Her bare feet poked out from beneath the cloth, pearls decorated her long and flowing golden brown hair. A long chain of tiny pearls lashed around gracefully and encircling her neck three times, the longest part of the string still hung down towards her stomach, tiny strings of pearls hung from her ears to just past the hinges of her jaw. She was beautiful, and had the motherly aura that Jack had told her about.  
  
"So, the great Jezebel Turner has come to the Pearl Reefs. Jack has brought me a child, I have seen great things in your future, but I have also seen the grave things in your recent past. They were not of my doing, I am simply an oracle, I only see and speak of my visions. I can take no part how they happen." Her voice seemed to float in the air and barely drift into Jezebel's ears.  
  
"You remind me of someone..."  
  
"Yes, someone you've never met. I never look the same to any two people, I appear as someone you've never known... at all... but have caught a brief glimpse of."  
  
"Katrine..." she whispered as the woman looked up in distress.  
  
"Many years ago, I had grown weary of this life, and became human. That's when I was swimming over near England. I washed up on the shore and was found by a young noble man, he fell in love with me even though I had no past nor did I have a wealthy name... human name that is. In time I learned to return his love, one day we were wed. I bore him a daughter, it wasn't long after that that the sea began to call to me again, and I had to return to my true home. But not before finding my daughter a governess that would fill her imagination with tales of far away lands and adventures of dashing pirates... I knew that pirates would be a part of her destiny. Before I left them, I told my husband who I really was... showed him actually; I gave him a silver bracelet to remember me by. And was gone, I never got to see my daughter grow up. I see everything... everything except whatever came of my family. I've never been seen as I truly am... except by my husband George Swann. How is it that you see me as I truly am?" She said as Jezebel stared at her with a never ending awe, absentmind.  
  
"I saw a painting of you in the governor's mansion."  
  
"_Governor_? He's a _governor_?" Jezebel nodded slowly, "and my daughter? How fares my Elizabeth?" Jezebel began to smile sweetly as she thought of the woman waiting her return back on the ship.  
  
"She married a blacksmith, who is also the son of a pirate..."  
  
"And together she bore him an heir to the Turner Treasure... you."  
  
"Yes, I am your granddaughter... does this mean Elizabeth and I are part fish?" She asked quizzically. The woman laughed as she began to walk towards the waterfall, the young girl at her side.  
  
"No, no sweet child. When a mermaid takes human form they are simply human until they return to being 'part fish'. I was human when I had Elizabeth, that's why I could never see what her future had in store for her, you can't see someone's future when you're human. I see you've received your locket, and apparently it will be added to the Turner Treasure." She said as Jezebel grabbed the trinket around her neck.  
  
"How did these jewels get here? And what exactly is this Turner Treasure that everyone keeps talking about?" The girl huffed in a fit of frustration.  
  
"The first born female Turner in entire history of your family, is to be part of the Turner treasure," Jezebel looked at the woman incredulously, "Your blood, and tears will not be just that... look at your hand. You won't find a bloody hand from the barnacle, you'll find a gash encrusted with rubies and garnets. That is what is on your locket... your blood. The only time that this will not happen is when the caves where the Turner Treasure is located are very close by. You are part of the family treasure, the first born female of the entire Turner line."  
  
"Will it always be like that... what do my tears turn into?"  
  
"Diamonds, of course you've never noticed this because the only time you've ever really cried was when you lost your father..."  
  
"Is he really gone? Can you undo that, undo the hurt?"  
  
"I can only try to comfort your grieving soul. You will find your solace and closure in your own time. Come, you must be hungry," almost as if on queue, Jezebel's stomach began to growl quite loudly, "Ha ha, yes, here drink this." She said as she picked up a cup-like shell, filled it with water from the small waterfall behind them. Handing it to her, the young girl drank the liquid quickly.  
  
"I didn't know that mermaids were sherry fans?"  
  
"Ah, another trick of my kind; whoever drinks of this fount, tastes their favorite drink. You are a pirate and yet you do not say that it tastes of rum? This is most unusual, even as a princess of piracy."  
  
"One thing my father told me repeatedly of my mother: she detested rum, thought it was the vilest drink in existence. I thought that if I ever got to meet her I would make her proud, so I became partial to the expensive tastes of sherry. I drink it very often, though."  
  
"How very strange of a pirate to have such tastes."  
  
"Drink up me hearties, yo ho..."  
  
"Who taught you that song? I vaguely remember hearing the governess I hired for Elizabeth singing that while I was interviewing her." The Queen Jezebel said kindly with her warm eyes.  
  
"Uncle Jack, I'm the only person in the entire world that can get away with not calling him Cap'n, but I call him that anyway sometimes." She said before taking another sip from the shell.  
  
"He's not your uncle, you know."  
  
"Yes, I know. But he's been such a close family friend since he was shipmates with my grandfather." She said absent-mindedly.  
  
"Further back than that; he's your great uncle." At the last part Jezebel choked a bit on her drink.  
  
"_What_?"  
  
"Jack Sparrow's real name is Jack Turner; he was a few years younger than your grandfather. When he was a child he ran away from home to become a pirate, years later when he had become very sea savvy, and had dawned the name Sparrow, he came back for his older brother. Taught him everything he knew and the two became very well known pirates. No one ever knew they were brothers." Jezebel looked at the mer-queen with awe.  
  
"My grandparents on my mum's side are a governor and a mermaid queen, and on the other side is a pirate and my great uncle is Jack Sparrow... incredible!" She exclaimed, but apparently the queen wasn't through just yet.  
  
"Ah, but your grandfather and great uncle aren't the only sword sporting relatives of yours, oh no. They are the buccaneers that they are because they are the grandsons of Jaques D'Artagnan, the legendary musketeer." Jezebel sighed deeply and shook her head.  
  
"Why does my family have to be so bloody complicated?"  
  
"I would view that an excellent and most distinguishing thing about myself... it's alright, I know that you do think that."  
  
"Anything else I should know about the people I hold dear? Maybe you could tell me a bit about James?"  
  
"You might want to put your drink down for that." The mermaid queen said cautiously eyeing the teenage pirate.

* * *

A/N: Ha, ha! That's right, a cliff hanger! Mwhahahahaha! But seriously, it's all good. I'm already in the middle of the next chapter, and I'm sorry it took so long to write this one. I had some serious writers block due to my mind constantly thinking about my uncle who has just recently been shipped out to Iraq. Anyway, more is on the way... review and the answers will come at a quicker pace! Thank you, and see ya next chapter. 

And just incase you're wondering, the mer-queen's full name is Queen Jezebel Katrine of the Pearl Reefs... when she was human she simply went by Katrine.


	10. With new eyes

Last chapter...

"You might want to put your drink down for that..."

* * *

"Why... is it something awful? He looked very sad when I left the ship a while ago, do you know why he's sad?" the girl asked slowly.

"Because he knows... something bad will happen in the next few days..."

"He's not going to die on me, too, is he?" She said, cutting off her senior quickly.

"Oh no, not him... you will, or at least they'll think you've died." The girl looked at her incredulously, "They must think this in order for you to succeed, for the prophecy to be followed out properly."

"It's flawed, you know. You said I'd never know loss or defeat... I lost my father; I was defeated by a storm..."

"That was supposed to happen. Do you know the other part of the prophecy?" She said lifting an eyebrow, wishing that her granddaughter hadn't lost her father, his death might get in the way of the girl succeeding.

"It's hazy; no one has ever told me the complete story. I don't understand why I couldn't know my mother, why I had to loose my father. Why is this Blackbeard guy even after me?! I'm supposed to be some legendary leader of piracy and I don't even know why. I'm just a kid... I never asked for any of this, and I never wanted it either!" She shouted, fresh tears framed her face, her jaw began to shake gently, and the lump in her throat began to feel painful as it grew. Her eyes stung from the tears that threatened to fall like rain, they stung even more when she tried to blink them back, force them to stop. Her grandmother tried to step forward to embrace her grieving descendant, but the girl recoiled. Gritting her teeth she hissed: "I want answers, I know I'm old enough for the truth!"

"Yes, you are ready for some real answers. You were destined to lead the new era of piracy; you are to be as fierce and famous as Captain Jack Sparrow. With your mother's grace and a heart of pure gold like your father. You will be the one to lead Jack to the glorious end of his legend, and carry on the family line of piracy. You were to look up to Sparrow...not only your own father but Jack as well. You were not to thirst for material treasures as Jack does, but like your father you were to favor adventure and love over everything else. You were not to know your mother... not until you came of age. You were also to believe you had lost everything before you could be reunited with your mother. And would be rescued by a fisher's vessel, where you would meet the one that you would willingly give your life for. Blackbeard will hunt you down, and force you to show him where the Turner Treasure lies, waiting for it's heir... you... to return to it. It is there, on Isle Del Sangre, that you will defeat Blackbeard and lead Jack to his glorious end. Don't cry for Sparrow, it is his time, that is why he's evaded the hangman and the Royal Navy so successfully for so long... he was destined to go down in a blaze of glory, as a great warrior and hero; thus bringing the end of his era of piracy and beginning an era that will be all your own, you can choose to make piracy a thing of great good or great evil... that choice is yours alone to make." The woman said with great pride for her granddaughter dripping from each word.

"That still doesn't explain why I wasn't to know Elizabeth." The younger woman inquired in an agitated state.

"You weren't to have any knowledge of nobility, nothing of wealth... save for what you would steal. Your mother was the embodiment of what you could not know, besides, she didn't want you to live her life; the social cages of arranged marriages and corsets, parties for entering society or aristocratic manners, morals and other such petty beliefs. In her world a woman has very little importance or say, she never wanted that for you, in part it was her decision as well. She wanted for you what she could only dabble in: Freedom. Something she could only briefly grasp when gallivanting about with your father, or off on adventures with your father and everyone on the Pearl. She was an Aristo, and the thought of you growing up in that life frightened her to death, I couldn't see it in her eyes but I felt it in her soul." Jezebel finally saw everything so clearly, it was a mother's wish, her protection... the only protection she saw herself able to give. Though her troubled mind was finally settled, her heart was still brimming with anger and she knew now who to point it at: Blackbeard.

"Thank you grandmother..."

"I know, yes... you are beginning to see the grand design for which you were born." The queen said kindly, and then turned as if in distress towards the waterfalls on the other side of the island.

"Blackbeard..."

"How did you know?" She asked inquisitively, and then she spied the small silver bracelet around the girl's slender wrist. "It seems I've left more of myself behind than I thought, a queen's treasure contains a bit of her powers. I see that my husband has given his granddaughter my most prized trinket."

"Are you safe here?" she asked carefully.

"Most unusual for a pirate to be thinking of others before themselves... the magic of the Pearl Reefs will shelter me from Blackbeard's malicious sight. You, on the other hand, may have a problem in hiding from him." Said the woman with a great calm in her eye, she appeared so relaxed that it frightened Jezebel... ok; ok it scared the crap out of her. But as quickly as the calm had come it left her once more and she tightly embraced the girl. "Be careful on your way back to the ship, good luck with your battles. I am glad to know my daughter lives and has such a lovely and extraordinarily beautiful and talented child."

"Someday I'll return with mother, you deserve to at least see your daughter." She said over her shoulder as she ran in the direction of her ship. But as she neared the shore she observed a peculiar sight... Jack and the row boat were gone, and the ship seemed abandoned. "Strange." She said as she began to swim to the Jezebel, clambering over the railing she saw that the ship was relatively empty. "Hello! Is there anybody left? Hello!?"

As she reached a large pile of ropes, an arm appeared from the corner of her eye and wrenched her down behind the pile with the arm's owner.

"D'ye wanna ge' us caugh'?" the young female buccaneer said quietly. Jezebel recognized the girl... Vianne was her name, her twin sister had been killed for Blackbeard's suspicion that the girl had been Jezebel Turner, when he found out he was wrong he had come after Vianne. They had also hailed from James' home of Port Langly. Luckily she was able to escape; her reason for joining the crew of the ship was to observe Jezebel's victory over her sister's murderer.

"Where are the others, Vianne? What happened?" the slightly older girls face turned grave before she went on.

"Blackbeard, 'e attacked. We weren't ready fer 'im, they took mos' e'eryone, save I think fer James an' yer mum an' maybe ye granddad. I think they hid somewhere, though I don't know fer sure..."

"Yes, Vianne, we hid. They didn't think about searching the captain's cabin, just our luck." Elizabeth said as herself and the boy toppled out from the captain's quarters, the door had been blocked by debris from what looked to have been a very thorough search or an attempt to fight off the invaders.

"And Bootstrap... What came of my grandfather?" Jezebel asked quickly.

"Hid in the crow's nest, I had been there already, so I ducked." The old pirate said calmly, not a moment later there was a loud thud coming from the starboard side of the ship. Everyone turned their heads toward the noise only to hear Jack Sparrow swearing quietly.

"Jack!" Vianne called happily.

"Aye, who calls?"

"S'Vianne, there are only a few of us left."

"Why, wha' happened? Is me poppet alrigh'?" Jack asked solemnly as he clamored over the railing, Jezebel blushed; he really was like a second father to her.

"Aye, Cap'n, I'm fine." She said as she looked on, the sight of a small ship disappearing over the horizon. "Damage report..." Vianne looked about quickly and sputtered her answer almost as fast.

"Not much, jus' a few over turned powder kegs; I was able to sneak down there when they were finished turnin' things over down there. A few planks brough' up near the Cap'n Quar'ers. Other than tha'... we're okay. No' the best in the area's of search an' capture... if ye ask me." Jezebel couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the thought. The pirate that had been out for her blood since birth had the worst band of pirates working for him. There was just something extremely funny about it.

"Very well, we'll clean tha' up before we sail for Isle De La Muerta..." She began, Bootstrap's attention was caught by their destination.

"Wha' of yer crew; are we no' to go af'er 'em?"

"No, I have a feelin' that it won't be long before they come lookin' for us again. In the mean time, we need to be gettin' things done... like cleanin' up our damage. S'not a lot of work for the six of us; shouldn't take all that long. We should be able to make it to the Isle before nigh'fall tomorrow." What was left to The Jezebel spread out and returned things to their normal places, except for Jack, who grabbed Jezebel's arm as she began to retreat.

"Wha' did the ol' fish have to say, uh?" He asked as she pulled herself around to look at him.

"She told me everythin'...about the prophecy, an' other things, too. I know who you really are, my great uncle Jack Turner, an' I now know wha' I have to do. Jus' remember tha' it isn't over, not yet, not even close. These next few days will be very trying, on everyone's part... not jus' mine for once. I don't want to loose any more of those tha' I'm close to. By the way Jack, tha' Ol' Fish... is Elizabeth's mother." She said shortly and turned quickly on her heels and walked quickly to help her crew mates... er... those left to her. Leaving Jack in complete shock, he stood, sobered, for a moment or two before he walked to the railing. She knew who he was, and now he knew the truth about Elizabeth's mother, confident in his own musings that she didn't even know the truth about her mother.

After the girl wandered away from Jack, Bootstrap joined his brother. Seeing the shock in his younger brother's eyes always put a smile on his own weathered and old face.

"Problem, Jack?" He asked with and amused grin.

"She knows. An' the oracle is Elizabeth's real mother. The girl is thrice blessed..." He quickly noted the confusion in Bill's face that quickly over threw the amusement, "She's a pirate, for one. She's born into money, an Aristo. AND she's the granddaughter of a mermaid queen. I don't think I've e'er been so proud of me poppet." He said as he wiped a salty tear from the corner of his eye, his brother threw his head back in laughter and gave Jack a good pat on the back.

"An' yer jus' 'er great uncle! Jus' imagine how proud I, 'er grandfather, am of 'er? Or even 'er parents!" A moment later he remembered that she had sadly been left with only one parent, "Er, rather, how proud 'er mother is of the girl." Jack nodded; there wasn't a single person in her life that couldn't be proud of the young pirate. She was already a hero to many, following through with the prophecy would only promote her to being a legend, and soon, people would find it difficult to believe that she even existed, saying that, like himself and his precious Pearl, she was merely a fairytale. No girl could ever be strong enough to lead the life that was Jezebel's. His thought's drifted back, years back, to Jezebel's first adventure at Tortuga. Right before they docked, Annamaria had said something, what was it?

_'The dread pirate Jezebel Turner! Bravest pirate to e'er sail the seas, and most terrible in beauty to look upon!'_

Yes, that was it. He knew that soon, people would describe her as such, a character in a story, one that happened long before the teller's time. Her life would be retold for generations to come, as would his own of course... Annamaria, how he missed her, she had been his true love, she had even meant more to him than the sea. He'd never told her of his love, but he knew she could see it in his eyes. She'd raised Jezebel as if she were her own, and had proven herself to be a good second mother; perhaps he should have given her the chance to be someone's real mother. But what had the girl meant, when she said it was nowhere near the end? He sat for a moment, letting the comment baffle and torture him. Then with a simple shrug of his shoulders, joined the remaining pirates in repairing the ship.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long to write the next chapter, I've been getting ready for college and I leave in less than a week, so life is getting hectic. But my campus is like, pirate central, so after I get there, I should have no excuse to not have updates more often. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took me forever to finally finish it. But worry not! There is much more pirate fun to come!


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